The Adventures of Lara Croft & David Connors
by C. Mage
Summary: Lara Croft continues her adventures, with an unlikely partner...with unexpected results.
1. Professional Courtesy

**Professional Courtesy**

**By C. Mage**

"Blast."Lara put down the telegram she'd received from her contact in Nice, a Frenchman named LaRoux."Of all the things one has to deal with in this profession, the last thing I need is to have an ambitious new-comer."She stood up and looked out her window.Luxembourg's charm failed to work its magic on her and despite herself, she was uncharacteristically irritated.

She picked up the yellow paper once more and read the contents:

LARA STOP MUST COME TO BELGRADE IMMEDIATELY STOP CAIN PROJECT INTERRUPTED BY UNIDENTIFIED EXPLORER IN CATACOMBS STOP REQUEST YOUR PRESENCE TO RETRIEVE CHALICE STOP TICKETS WAITING AT AIRPORT DESK STOP FLIGHT AT EIGHT TONIGHT STOP 

_Requesting my help, eh?This upstart must be some trouble to evade him in the catacombs down there.There are more wrong turns and booby traps there than there were in Atlantis, so LaRoux says.I think it's high time I met my adversary._

With that, she packed her bag and hailed a cab for the airport.

The flight into Belgrade was by no means comfortable.As if complementing the region's reputation as the once-demesnes of none other than Vlad Tepes, the sky had been dark and tumultuous.She noticed with some disdain the large gentleman two rows back having a severe gastrointestinal reaction to the plane's shaking and shook her head.Lara laid her head back._Next time, LaRoux, do me a favor...book me First Class._

She bent her attention back to the scrolls.Lara had been keeping tabs on her latest dig, an expedition into a forgotten network of catacombs only a few miles away from the place the world knew as Castle Dracula.They had been untouched for centuries, but their defenses were well crafted.When Lara discovered the location and nearly got herself creamed into a thick paste by the front door, she knew that she was in for a rough trip.Previous concerns and engagements took her away from the site, book tours and lectures on the Mayan civilizations, but she had a feeling that she never should have left the site.Supposedly buried within he deepest levels of the catacombs were the remains of none other than Cain himself...Cain, who slew his brother Abel and became the first murderer on the face of the Earth.Supposedly.

Lara's concern for the site grew when he heard that also buried within was a chalice that Cain had possessed, a cup that held the poison that had ended his life.According to the legends and writings detailing the cup, it was said that Vlad Tepes had drank from the cup and as a result, became the penultimate murderer, a vampire cursed to drink the blood of men forever.Lara smiled as she recalled the notes taken from Bram Stoker's personal effects, about a man that had visited him one night and told his story to the author, inspiring Stoker's famous work.

At first, she was only interested in the knowledge she might discover from such an old crypt.But the telegram had proven that someone else had been doing their homework...and might be after Cain's cup._Hard to believe that I'm wasting my time having to deal with this trespasser over the possibility that this....Anti-Grail, for lack of a better name...might lay within those catacombs._

However, such a valuable artifact, should it exist, would be a useful find._Of course, I'll have to keep it in a room that doesn't have the Ark in it.God only knows, to coin a phrase, what might happen.She tried to ignore the stare she was getting from a young man whose eyes were riveted to her chest.At one point, she considered the idea of getting a breast reduction, then put that idea aside.Lara Croft had decided a long time ago that she wasn't going to change herself because of other people; the old, aristocratic Lara was long gone.Her body never got in her way, so why change?_

The resolution also provided Lara with another side effect.She was able to tell which men were worth her consideration by seeing if their eyes stayed above her neckline or below it.So far, the test proved to be accurate...a little TOO accurate.There were times when Lara felt lonely for someone who'd treat her with respect because of her mind and personality, not just her bra size, and there were times when she had to put some effort into keeping those ideas private.She was only human, after all.

Now seemed like one of those times and if the young onlooker had ever looked to her face, he would've seen one sad adventurer.

"Hello, LaRoux.Enjoying the rest?"Lara smiled as she got out of the carriage, dressed in her work clothes: a gunbelt with two .45 automatics, faded brown shorts, a light blue Kevlar bodysuit and study hiking boots.Her brown hair was tied up in a braid held fast by leather thongs.Her brown backpack and granny-sunglasses finished the ensemble.She looked at her watch, then up at the carriage driver."Two-twenty.Here's a tip, driver, you made good time."

LaRoux, a large man of forty with a weather-beaten face, smiled under his gray-brown moustache."Good to see you again, Lara.Things were pretty dicey this evening."

"What's the problem, exactly?"

"Here's the thing," LaRoux said as he walked towards the entrance to the dig."We've had two casualties to those damned traps.The only person who actually made it through was our friend the trespasser, and since then, nobody else has been allowed to enter."

"Any idea who this man is?"Lara asked as she looked down at the stairway that descended underneath the ground.

"All we know is that he's pretty agile and has a keen sense of how to avoid death.He sidestepped the first trap, a devilish contraption if I ever saw one.Watch."He picked up a rock and slung it towards the door.

Instantly, a row of blades flew across the entrance, splitting the rock in two and knocking it out of the gap.The blades continued on for a minute, then stopped abruptly, withdrawing into the sides of the doorway.As the trap wound down, Lara whistled."That's a sure method for discouraging guests.How did the trespasser get through?"

"I don't know.All I know is that the sound of the trap going off woke me and I left my tent to find that the guards were out cold and our boy was going deeper into the catacombs."

"Hmmmm.Well, I'll get no closer to the intruder by standing around here."Lara walked up to the entrance and studied the doorjamb carefully."LaRoux, have you examined the entranceway?"

"_Oui, ma chelle.I couldn't find anything."_

Lara considered._If it's not on the door, then maybe it's somewhere else."LaRoux, did you find anything outside the door?A keyhole or anything like that?"_

"No, just these trees and that old stump."

Lara turned towards the stump, a chord striking in her mind.She'd read something about a stump in the scrolls taken from the Archives at Oxford.She felt over the faded rings, then counted from the middle ring out.When the count reached seventeen, she felt around the ring and found a depression in the stump."Got it!" she said triumphantly, looking towards the door and sprinting through.

"Lara, wait!"LaRoux yelled.

"No time!"A split-second after she leapt through the opening, the blades spun their crazed dance around the doorway, cleaving the air she'd occupied a second before.She rolled forward and turned to face the doorway, where LaRoux stood just beyond the whirling razors."Wish me luck, LaRoux.I've got to make up for lost time."

"Luck to you, as always."LaRoux went to examine the sleeping guards and Lara turned back down the hallway, pulling a flashlight out of her backpack and switching it on.With that, she descended into the gloom.

The catacombs were not as dank and damp as Lara had thought they'd be.There was a surprisingly small amount of water and mold in the passageway, and the smell was more earthy than anything else._Compared to some of the places I've been, this is a refreshing walk through the park, Lara thought as she turned a corner and came face to face with another tomb raider._

This one, however, had been dead for some time.

The body was lying face down in the dirt, his arms down by his sides.The corpse had obviously been down here for a few centuries, at least.The rotting clothes were only barely intact, but what was left suggested that the delver had been of Asian descent.Lara looked closer and examined the designs on the clothing."Late seventeenth century Japanese...this man came a long way to seek immortality."She pulled a flap of cloth aside and found three large darts inside the rib cage."Shot in the back..." she murmured, turning around to look at the wall behind her.

Sure enough, there was a ring of holes set in the wall four feet above the floor.

Lara let out the breath she'd been holding and backed up around the corner slowly.When that was done, she took out a small block of clay from her pack and carefully stuck a lump in each hole.She waited a few minutes, then touched the clay, smiling as she found the surface dry._Amazing what a little fast-drying modeler's clay can do in a pinch.Lara went down the hall again, feeling the floor shift forward as she reached the spot where the corpse lay. _

Nothing happened.

Satisfied that the trap was either not working correctly or forestalled by the clay, Lara continued down the corridor.

Lara found that the rest of the traps were either simple to counteract or malfunctioning due to extreme decrepitude.However, the traps must have lasted long enough to claim the lives of others...there were plenty of other skeletons caught by those traps, the remains of their belongings indicating that they had come from many other cultures, all looking for the chalice.Instead of being glad at being able to get past those traps, though, she was getting worried.She was finding it hard to believe that the only serious obstacle in this place was only the front door with only a token force of booby traps inside the catacombs.

The tunnel finally opened up into a larger room and Lara was surprised to find herself inside the last sort of structure she expected to discover underground...a cathedral.The walls and ceiling of the cave were fashioned in the decor of a Catholic church, complete with candleholders and burning candles, satin-cushioned pews and stained-glass windows.A large marble bowl just in front of the main doors held about ten gallons of crystal-clear holy water.Crosses were at every mock window and door, many more sitting in the pews like wooden parishioners at Mass.They radiated out from the altar, where a simple plate and chalice sat at the middle of the altar.

Lara took one step inside the door when she heard a solid CLICK-ICK to her right.She turned to see a man step out from the shadows, holding a Desert Eagle .50-caliber pistol in each hand.

"Hold it right there, Miss Croft.I want you to pull out your pistols by the butts and place them on the pew in front of you."The voice sounded tired"As much as I'd hate the idea, I will not hesitate to shoot you if I must."

"Rather poor manners, sir."Lara did as she was told, putting the guns on the padded seat.

"Now step back six paces."The speaker came further into the light.He was a black-haired man of young age, perhaps about twenty-five.He had blue eyes and a strong face, with just a hint of five-o'clock shadow around his lips and chin.He wore jeans, hiking boots, a black T-shirt and a brown leather jacket.Around his waist, the man wore an Old Western two-gun rig, refitted to accommodate the massive pistols he was now pointing at Lara.

She stepped back carefully, watching him."Don't tell me that you're the type of gentleman that would shoot an unarmed lady."

"Hate to disappoint you, Miss Croft, but I'm no gentleman."He put one of his pistols in its corresponding holster and picked up her .45's, dropping them in the bowl of holy water."But if I wanted to kill you, I would've fired the moment you came through the door."

"You have me at a disadvantage, sir..."

"Knowing your rep, lady, that's just fine with me."

Lara continued, "...meaning that you know who I am, but I haven't the slightest glimmer whom you are."

"Well, now, if we're formally introducing..." The man put his other pistol away."David Connors.My friends call me Dave," he added automatically, as if he'd made identical introductions thousands of times before.

"And what may I call you?"

"For now, anything but Dave."

"Right."Lara looked around."So what do you plan to do with me, David?"

"Depends on what YOU want to do with THAT."He pointed up to the altar."That's what you came for, isn't it?"

"As did you."

"Yeah...but I'm not so sure I want it.Take a look around you, Miss Croft.This place has been around for centuries, but there's something wrong.There isn't a single hint of decay or degradation...this place looks as if it were constructed yesterday."

Lara looked around.David was right; the room even smelled fresh."And your point being?"

"Somebody put that chalice there for a particular reason, not to mention all the other crosses and accoutrements.I don't think we should be going in and fooling around with it."David was oddly somber.

"Don't tell me that you're superstitious."

"I've seen a great deal more than you think, Miss Croft."

"You might as well call me Lara, David."

"Sorry...I don't know you that well yet."He went up the aisle and Lara went for the guns in the holy water, only to find that they were somehow completely rusted solid.

"Blast...!"

David turned around and smiled a little, as if the expression made his face hurt."This place doesn't like violence very much.Weapons don't last very long here."He drew one of his guns and Lara noticed that they had small tinges of orange."This alloy was supposed to be rustproof...that's the only reason they still work now.The water advanced the rusting of yours."

"Excuse me," Lara interrupted, "but would you mind telling me what's going on?What's your story?"

David sat down in the front pew facing the altar."I was sent here to get the chalice.Promised over a million dollars to go in, get the chalice and come back out.As I came through the maze of corridors back there, I started to see that I wasn't the only one after this thing and once I got here, I couldn't just go get it.I had something of a church background and I could see that this entire place was constructed to protect it from other vampires."

"OTHER vampires?"

"Yes...you see, some people thought that if you drank from the cup, you'd become a powerful vampire.The problem is, it was too evil, too malevolent for that.If a mortal drank from the cup, he was killed and the chalice drank its soul, instead of the other way around.However, if a VAMPIRE drank from it, that vampire would have even more power."

"Wait...excuse me."Lara walked towards the altar."Are you trying to tell me that you believe that this will only help a vampire?I hate to burst your bubble, David, but vampires don't exist."She stopped at the pew where David sat."I've seen a great deal, too, and I'm telling you that I've seen nothing to show that such creatures exist."

"So YOU say."David sat back in the pew."In any case, I've been here for the past seven hours coming to a decision."

"And that decision is?"

"I'm canceling the job.I don't even want to TOUCH that thing, much less take it out of here."

"Well, then, you won't mind if I do."Lara sprang up to the altar quickly.David saw the motion too late and drew his guns, pointing them at her."Sorry, David, but that won't work this time.I'm betting that your guns are too far gone to fire.This is too valuable an artifact to just leave behind."Lara reached out and took hold of the cup.

David pulled the triggers.A small SPROING came from the guns and David realized that the hammers were frozen in place at the same time that Lara took the chalice from the altar.

As soon as the base of the cup left the surface of the altar, the entire room began to shake.David rushed towards Lara, but she flipped over the altar and David to the landing below.The ground was shaking furiously now._Stupid, Lara Croft, stupid!You should've checked for a pressure plate!! she chided herself.Chunks of masonry and stained glass rained down from above as she sprinted for the door._

By the time David recovered, Lara was halfway across the church when a fissure opened in the floor and the level surface shifted to a steep incline.Before she knew it, she was sliding down towards the fissure!

David saw Lara disappear into the crevasse with a scream.Every instinct in him told him GET OUT, MOVE YOUR BUTT WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!! and for a moment, he considered just leaving her and concentrating on saving himself...but, instead of doing something sane and sensible, he saw himself moving, running towards the crack in the floor.The quaking was getting worse and David saw the walls rippling back and forth.He got to the edge and clamped down on a smaller crack, anchoring himself and looking down into the abyss.

Lara was hanging on to a ledge thirty feet down.Her face was dirty, but she was alive.David dug into his pouch and pulled out the grapplegun, firing it into the wall next to the main doors and letting go of the crack, tumbling into the opening and trying to dodge the chunks of rock falling into it as well.

Lara had just about given up hope when she fell into the fissure.Lara Croft was not the kind of woman to give up hope about anything, but for the first time, she kept trying to think of a way to get out and nothing came to mind._You've pushed you luck too far this time! her mind screamed at her as she fell, but it seemed that Lara Croft had a little luck left.Her hands grasped at everything, anything, until her fingers felt purchase on the ledge and her fall stopped._

Time seemed to slow down.She saw the rocks from above floating down towards and past her.She always thought she'd see her life pass before her eyes just before she died, but that wasn't the case.Instead, all she saw was what could have been.She found that her life still was ending far too quickly, she still had so much to do, so much to live for...and she'd thrown it all away._And for what?Just another piece of history._

And now Lara was history.

She felt her strength giving out and then she saw David entering the chasm.She first thought he'd fallen in to die as well, but she saw him moving down much more slowly than the rocks, and then saw the line he was hanging from.Lara found the strength to tighten her grip on the ledge."Down here!!" she yelled.

As David lowered himself down to Lara, he suddenly realized that it was getting tighter._Oh this just gets better all the time!!! he thought frantically as he reached down to her.He couldn't see the chalice.__Just as well.Soon this place will be buried under thousands of tons of rock and NO ONE will be able to use it.Good enough."Lara, give me your hand!!"_

She tried to reach up as David came closer, but she was running low on strength and she knew it."Just...a....little...closer...."

Then her grip on the ledge was shaken loose by a sharp quake and she fell.

David grabbed at the last moment and caught the outstretched hand.He felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and he almost let go, but tightened his grip on Lara's hand.The crevasse was getting tighter and David thumbed the FAST WINCH switch.

Fresh pain blossomed in his arm as the two shot upwards.The edge of the gun caught on the edge of the crack for an instant, and then the powerful winch in the gun hauled them free just before the two sides smashed together!They fairly flew up to the door and David hurled Lara as far up to the doorway as he could before pulling himself painfully after her.

Then the roof fell in.

David heard a sound like a thousand waves crashing in behind him as he and Lara sped away from the room._Surf's up... he thought crazily and ran even faster and the tunnel began to cave in behind them._

Finally, after an eternity of pulse-pounding, adrenaline-churning speed, they leaped through the door as the blades once again began their mad flailing around, just missing the two as they landed on the ground outside.It was still dark, about an hour before dawn and the night air felt like a rain of coolness on them both.LaRoux ran towards them.

"Lara!"

"GET BACK!"Lara screamed as she hauled David to his feet and ran like mad away from the entrance to the catacombs."GET BACK AND GET DOWN!!"

The cave-in reached the doorway and the blades, once uniform and exact in their patterns of cleaving, flew around like reeds in a high wind, flying away from their hinges as all the ground within a thirty-foot radius of the doorway sunk more than thirty-five feet down!Lara and David had to scrabble at the dirt to get to the outer edge of the crater, climbing out and lying on the grass.They were coated with sweat and dust from the cave-in, but they were alive.Perhaps not enjoying it, but definitely alive.

LaRoux ran over and looked at Lara in utter disbelief."You made it!I felt the trembling in the ground and I was sure that you'd be buried alive!"

"I almost pretty damn near was."She struggled to get to a sitting position."Our 'thief' over there saved my life."

"Did you get it?Was it there?"

"I got it."Lara reached over her shoulder to her backpack and pulled out the chalice."Just in time, as it turned out.I put it in my pack as I jumped over him down in the church."

"You put the chalice in your pack as you were JUMPING OVER David??"The disbelief in LaRoux's face was more pronounced.

"After training to keep my aim steady while back-flipping, simply putting something in my pack was simplicity itself."Lara grinned, then her grin flickered and turned suspicious."How do you know his name is David?"LaRoux grabbed the chalice out of Lara's hand and looked at it.The intensity of his snatch and grab, not to mention the fixed gaze, was making her wary."That wasn't too polite, LaRoux."

LaRoux looked back up at Lara and she stepped back in shock.LaRoux's eyes were glowing a deep, fierce red."I'M SORRY, LARA...BUT LAROUX ISN'T QUITE HIMSELF RIGHT NOW."

Lara stepped back as the face of her old friend shifted into something more bestial and his clothes changed to that of a Japanese samurai's armor."Who are you?"

"I AM MURAMASA SHIYAMOTO...AND I THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP, LARA CROFT," said the creature with an inhuman voice that reverberated in its throat."NOW THAT I HAVE CAIN'S CUP, NO OTHER FORCE ON EARTH WILL BE ABLE TO THREATEN ME NOW."The monstrous apparition looked at Lara as she backed further away."NO NEED TO WORRY, LARA CROFT...I HAVE YOU TO THANK FOR THIS, AFTER ALL.FOR THAT, I SHALL NOT FEED UPON YOU TODAY."

At that point, Lara noticed that there was no one else at the dig.All the workers were gone.

"I HIRED DAVID TO FETCH THE CUP FOR ME AFTER I KILLED LAROUX AND TOOK HIS PLACE.UNFORTUNATELY, HE HAD A CHANGE OF HEART, SO I HAD TO FIND SOMEONE ELSE.YOUR DEDICATION AND TENACITY IN DOING YOUR JOB MADE YOU THE PERFECT CHOICE.AFTER YOU WENT IN, I DECIDED TO HAVE A SNACK WHILE I WAITED."

"Muramasa...not of the swordmaker's clan?"Lara had been through far too much to be incapacitated by the sight before her.Fighting mummified panthers and fireball-throwing centaurs had a way of doing that.But she could feel the edges of panic trying to seep into her mind as she realized that hot lead would do nothing to the creature before her._If only I had my harpoon gun..._

"MY FATHER.I FELL VICTIM TO ONE OF THE EVIL DEMONS HE USED TO MAKE HIS WEAPONS, BUT IN RETROSPECT, I SHOULD THANK MY FATHER FOR THE BOON HE GRANTED ME.NOW...WITH THIS, ONE DRINK WILL MAKE ME THE MOST POWERFUL CREATURE ON EARTH!"Shiyamoto advanced on Lara."AS FOR YOU...YOU WILL MAKE A CHARMING ADDITION TO MY CONCUBINES."

"Not likely, Shiyamoto!"Lara jumped to the side and circled the vampire, trying to get around him.She remembered a detail about the tent pegs she passed when she arrived at the site...they weren't metal or plastic pegs, but wooden ones._They might do the trick.It's a long shot, but better than doing nothing!With an acrobatic spring, she dove towards one of the tents and pulled out one of the pegs, a long stake just over a foot long._

"I KNOW YOUR MIND, LARA CROFT.I CAN SEE RIGHT INTO YOU.YOUR WILL MAY BE STRONG, BUT MINE IS THE STRONGER!"His eyes glowed green and Lara felt her will caught in a supernatural grasp."I HAVE CHANGED MY MIND, LARA CROFT.I SHALL FEED UPON YOU AFTER ALL.COME HERE.NOW!"

She stepped towards him haltingly, her arms limply falling by her sides.Against her will, she found herself saying, "....yes....master..."_No! NOO!she screamed at herself._

"YES.YES!AH, IT WILL BE PLEASURABLE INDEED TO FEAST UPON A SOUL LIKE YOURS."Shiyamoto smiled.

"How about a drink before your meal?"

Shiyamoto heard the voice behind him and turned just in time to catch a faceful of water from David's canteen.Where the water touched, Shiyamoto's skin bubbled and melted away.The vampire let out with a high, gibbering scream that could've come from no human throat and fell back, the water eating into his body.Not even his armor was proof against the liquid's touch and the breastplate fell from Shiyamoto's chest, pits and holes widening in the black metal.

Lara's mind was free again and so was her temper.She jumped, crossing the distance between her and Shiyamoto in an instant."Pardon me," she said in mock civility, tapping Shiyamoto's shoulder and dropping into a crouch.

The vampire reflexively swung out with a clawed hand while trying to hold his face with the other hand.Lara heard the SWISH of the arm going over her head and saw Shiyamoto's now-unarmored chest move right in front of her.

With every ounce of strength she had left, she plunged the stake into Shiyamoto's heart.It went in through the ribcage with surprising ease, the point exiting out his back.The vampire froze, then exploded into a cloud of dust, leaving only his skeleton behind.Then, that disintegrated too.

Lara tiredly staggered away from the scene, finally sitting down as a wind came along and began to disperse the dust that was left behind.A yellow light began to touch the east.Dawn was coming.

"You...alright....?"

Lara looked up to see David walking towards her, the canteen dropped and discarded.In his other hand, he held the chalice."Are you going...to give me any trouble...Miss Croft?"

"Not even if I wanted to," she said wearily.

"Good...because I've got to pop my shoulder back in its joint."David set his teeth together and bent his left arm at the elbow, then moved it up and back.There was a soft "puck" as his shoulder joint popped back into place."Oh yeah, I'm going to feel THAT tomorrow morning."He said through clenched teeth and lay back on the grass next to Lara."So what do we do now, Miss Croft?You still want this chalice?"

"Not nearly as much as I did before, I must admit.I see now what you meant when you told me how dangerous it was...far too dangerous to put into a museum, I'm afraid."

"Good...because I'm giving it to you."

Lara blinked."Excuse me?"

"Seems to me like the best person to have this thing is somebody the least likely to use it."David dropped the chalice to the dirt."Also, I've heard about the security in your house.If it'll keep the Ark of the Covenant in its place, I'm sure it'll keep Cain's cup far and away from those who WOULD want it."

"Makes sense."Lara considered, then added in a quieter tone, "I apologize for my zeal, David.I just didn't believe you.I was led to believe that you were a trespassing thief and assumed that you would also be a liar as well.I was wrong and for that, I am sorry."

"Forget it.Natural to think that, after all, I'll bet Shiyamoto fed you a lot of bull.LaRoux was an honest type; why wouldn't you have believed him?Besides, as I've said before, I'm no gentleman."

Lara raised herself up on her elbows and looked at David squarely."Oh, I'm not too sure about that.I've been watching you ever since we first met and not once have you spoken to me without letting your gaze fall away from my eyes to below my chin.Not too many men do that, after all.So, out of curiosity, why aren't you casting your eyes further 'south'?" she asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.

David groaned."Would you like it if I did?"

"That's not what I meant."

David sat up, bending his legs so he could rest his arms on his knees."Listen, Miss Croft, if you really want to know, fine," he said, irritated."I'm just not that kind of guy, okay?"

Lara looked at him for a few moments, then picked up the chalice and got to her feet."I'll accept that.Are you ok?"

"Do I LOOK ok?"

Lara looked down at his bruised and dirty face and found the strength to chuckle."I retract the question.Are you going to need a ride back into town?"

"No, I've got my motorcycle over there.Let's hope that Shiyo-whoever didn't think about disabling it."

"Good, because I got here by cab and I could use a ride."

"You're welcome."David led Lara to a motorcycle hidden by a clump of bushes, a 1993 Harley-Davidson Shadow.

"Nice bike."

"Thanks.Come on, let's get outta here."

"My heartiest agreements."

The ride back into town was silent, with Lara holding on to David as he rode back to town.Despite herself, Lara was actually starting to like David.A bit on the crude side, and an American, but Lara thought, _Well, no one's perfect._

They got to the hotel where Lara was reserved and she got off the bike, finding herself reluctant to do so.David and Lara looked at each other in the early morning light, then David broke the tense silence."Look, I gotta go.This trip was a bust and I've got bills to pay."

"If you must...listen, if money's a problem..."

"No, I got enough to get by.I know you've got plenty, but as Pollonius put it, 'neither a borrower nor a lender be'...at least, the borrowing part."

They looked at each other for a moment longer, then Lara said, "By the by, David...thank you for saving my life."She turned around and headed up the steps to the hotel's main doors.

"Your voice."

David's voice stopped her and she turned around."Pardon?"

"Your voice.The reason why I didn't stare at your body.You may have an attractive body, Lara, but you've got a really nice voice."David put his helmet on and started up the Shadow, gunning the engine and riding away.Lara watched him go until he and his bike disappeared over the hills.She watched the place where he had vanished, then walked inside.As she walked up to her room, her mind was far too occupied to notice the looks she was getting from some of the staff and the other guests.Lara Croft had felt something she'd never felt before.She had no idea what it was...but she was sure that David had felt it, too.

Lara made a mental note to keep tabs on David Connors...and privately hoped that they'd run into each other again.

Soon.


	2. First Date

**First Date**

**By C. Mage**

Lara picked up the phone, reached for the keys to dial, then put the phone down again.She stared at the phone in her bedroom for a few seconds, picked up the receiver, typed in three numbers, then put the receiver back in the cradle.She picked it up once again, dialed an international number, let it ring once, then hung up as if the receiver was a snake that might have bit her.

_Oh for Heaven's SAKE, _she chided herself._Just dial up and ask.You've faced gun-toting skateboarders, gigantic aliens and wild animals of every shape...SURELY you can dial a man's phone number and ask him a question!_

"Not when the question is to ask the man for a date," she replied out loud.Lara Croft didn't know what was happening to her._What was it about this man that make me feel like...well, like a prepubescent schoolgirl??_David Connors had been on her thoughts a lot ever since the spectacle in Belgrade two weeks before, and it bothered her and thrilled her at the same time._Especially his last words, about my voice._"My name is Lara," she said, listening to herself talk."My name...is Lara Croft..." she repeated, making her voice sound sultry, then shook her head.She stood up straight and said casually, "Croft...Lara Croft."

She hung her head and covered her face with her hands._I'm doomed,_ she thought.

Just then the phone rang.Lara pounced on it, then stopped before picking it up."Wait a minute, he can't possibly be calling you.You didn't give him your phone number."She sighed in disappointment, then chided herself for the emotion, then shook herself mentally and picked up the phone."Hello?"

"Nice to hear your voice again."

"David?" she asked, barely hiding her excitement, then asked in a more serious tone, "How did you get my number?"

"Well, I didn't know it was yours at first...but this number kept showing up on my Caller ID box and I was curious."

_I'm beginning to regret that we made it through the Transistor Age..._"Ah, well...ahem, well, David, I've been a bit busy, but I was wondering..."Lara paused, unconsciously biting her lip.

"Yessss?" 

Lara could practically HEAR the grin on his face."Well, if you're not too busy, I was wondering if you'd like to go to see the opening of the Mayan exhibit in New York..."

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind at all.That might be a good place to..."

"...with me..." Lara added, half-hoping he wouldn't notice.

Luck was not with her that moment."Why, Miss Croft....are YOU asking ME out on a DATE?"

"Don't be absurd!" Lara said, making a desperate bid to regain control."I was going to be in that area to see that exhibit and I needed..."_Oooh, bad choice of words!_ she thought.

"Need?"

"...WOULD LIKE to have someone who knows the area be my guide while I'm there."She took a quick breath and added conversationally, "Don't try so hard to be so presumptuous, David."

"Okay, okay, we'll play it your way."

"So, are you free this weekend?"

"I'm available, Lara, but never free.Sure, I can drive you around.My fee for being your native guide in this urban jungle will be..."

"FEE!!"Lara nearly hung up on him.

"If you're going to keep up with this pretense, Lara, I have little choice but to humor you.Admit it, Lara, you called to ask me out, didn't you?"

"Don't be impertinent, David."Lara was immediately defensive.

"This'd be our first date."

"No it won't."

"Our first night out together."

"No, it WON'T."_The utter GALL of the man!_

"There's a connection between us."

"No, there isn't."

"Then how do you explain how you feel right now, talking to me, hmmm?"

"The cook must've gotten some bad fish in for lunch," Lara shot back."Are you going to help me or not?I have other contacts in New York that could help me out, and not only will they not charge me for the time, they're MUCH more charming than you are right now."

A pause from the United States end of the line, then, "Okay, okay, I give.What time is your plane coming in?"

"Eight sharp your time.British International, flight 405 from London.DON'T keep me waiting."Lara hung up and settled back in her chair.She was relieved that she'd been able to take control of the conversation back._I'm not COMPLETELY befuddled.Good._

On the other end of the line, David hung up and filed Lara's home number away for later reference."Two days," he murmured._Did I push her too hard?_ he wondered idly."Oh, get OVER it, Dave!" he said out loud, standing up and pacing the room."She's probably got guys lined up out the door waiting to kiss her little Brit feet!Get your reality check cashed, Dave."

"Sir?"David's secretary buzzed him from the other room."Are you alright?"

"Just talking to myself, Luz!" he called back."Good Lord, Dave...get ahold of yourself," he muttered.

_Yeah, RIGHT,_ his mind answered back.

"Luz, call someplace that rents tuxes.NICE ones."

"A formal job, Dave?"

"Yeah."He looked through the pile system on his desk and dug out his "organizer," marking down on Friday, 'pick up shrew at airport "8 SHARP" she sez' and tossing the book into a drawer."A formal job."

Friday night found David Connors suffering through New York traffic and wondering if he'd had enough money in the bank to buy a helicopter._Yeah, right, after that fiasco in Europe, I can't even afford a helicopter RIDE anywhere.Maybe I should take Doug's advice and install machineguns just under the headlights..._He checked the clock on the dash and sighed."Great...well, what's another rash of moving violations?"

With that, he gunned the engine and careened off the road to drive on the sidewalk, thanking the Powers-That-Be that nobody walked in New York anymore.He did manage to scare the bejeesus out of a couple of panhandlers, though.

"HEY, YOU IDIOT!!GET OFF THE SIDEWALK!!!" one of them yelled.

"I CAN'T!I'M NOT LICENSED TO DRIVE ON THE STREET ANYMORE!!" David yelled as he crossed to the intersection through a few parking meters and continued down a side street._Yes, traffic's much lighter here, _he observed, turning another corner and heading for the airport after looking back to see if a policeman had spotted his maneuver.Satisfied that none had, he thought, _Cop didn't see it, I didn't do it,_ and entered the airport parking lot and parked the car in a handicapped space.He got out, walked around to the back and opened the trunk, taking out a fake handicapped plate with magnetic strips on the back and slapping it neatly over the real plate.David stood up, looked around nonchalantly to see if a parking lot attendant had noticed, and went into the terminal.

Lara got off the plane and walked up the corridor to the gate entrance.She'd heard some stories about how psychotic the city could be, so she'd dressed in a plain dress designed to downplay her figure than flatter it, sensible shoes and no jewelry.Her "purse" was little more than another backpack, one with a special option created by Natla Technologies.It was a capacitor discharge device designed to electrify the backpack with more than 50,000 volts if it went more than twelve feet away from the transmitter in her pocket._I'm sure that Miss Natla would be pleased to know that one of her innovations was helping me to feel more secure, she thought with a smile, that is, should she ever get unearthed from the mountain that fell on her.Now...where is David?_She looked around, a little nervous...and Lara HATED feeling nervous about anything.

A man with a sign that said "LARA CROFT" drew her attention and she saw David walking around, holding it aloft.Lara was walking over when she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and struck out with an arm just as a man tried to run off with her backpack.The arm crossed his neckline and he flew back into one of the chairs surrounding the gate, gasping for breath.

David walked over."Welcome to New York."Damn, she's beautiful, he caught himself thinking and pushed that thought away...for now.

"I feel so welcome.Must be something in the air."She smiled."I take it you have a limo waiting outside?"

"I wish.Come on, Miss Croft.Let's get your luggage."

"I was expecting your bike, to tell you the truth."Lara looked at the beat-up Bonneville that occupied the parking space."And another thing...since when have you been a handicapped person?"

David grinned."Ever since I was five.I grew up with a deformed set of ethics."He plucked the fake plate off and got into the driver's side.Lara got into the shotgun seat, after dusting it off with a hand."Just brush those off the seat onto the floor."

"Then where will I put my feet??"She looked down at the assorted collection of fast-food wrappers, assorted trash and a speeding ticket or two."This car is an utter pigsty!"

"You're too kind.I thought it was landfill material, Miss Croft."

"And another thing..." She was interrupted by the car blasting out of the parking space and barreling out of the parking garage."...WATCH THE PEDESTRIAN!!!"

"She knew the risks she were taking when she starting walking on the street," he replied calmly and ignored the obscene gestures the woman was giving him as he passed."Besides, I didn't hit her, did I?"

"I'll answer that just as soon as I wrench my fingernails from the dashboard," Lara gritted."As I was about to say before you attempted vehicular homicide, when are you going to stop calling me Miss Croft?"

"Just as soon as you stop answering to it."

"Are you going to be this exasperating on Friday night?"

"Nah.I'm usually too relaxed."David smiled as he bypassed a stop sign without slowing."So, Miss Croft, how've you been?"

Lara scowled at David, but relented."I've been busy...had a few tours to make on the college archaeology circuit, been doing some writing.And yourself?"

"Three divorce cases, one thwarted jewel heist, two drug busts, one missing child case and-a-partridge-in-a-pear-tree," he sing-songed."I've been pretty busy."

"I see," Lara said neutrally.She was looking out the window, watching the world stream by."What do you think you'll do when you retire?"

"I'll probably be doing nothing at all.Not even breathing."

Lara turned back to give him a look of mixed puzzlement and shock."Excuse me?"

"This isn't exactly a Fortune 500 job, you know.I'm lucky to eke out normal expenses every month.I can't afford a pension plan.My only hope is a really big score, and then maybe I'll retire for a little while...until I get bored outta my skull."He shrugged."Then I'll go back to this.Oh, don't look so shocked, Miss Croft.As much as it irks you to consider it, you're just like me, in that respect.Can you honestly imagine yourself just hanging around your home, admiring what you've done and reliving your past through your trophies, never going out and doing the things you did when you were younger?"

Lara considered giving him a yes...until she realized that thought scared her to death.

"That'll never happen to you...you'll still be spraying lead, going into tombs and crypts while jumping around as if gravity had gone out of style by the time you reach eighty."

Lara smiled."That's what I like about you, David...you can say the sweetest things to a girl."She looked out the window."There's my hotel."

"THERE'S your hotel???"David looked up at the rising spiral of steel and concrete. 

"I always travel first class, David..."She looked around her seat."Present situation excepted."

"Oh, thank you, Miss Croft...you can say the sweetest things to a guy."David stopped the car in front of the hotel.Lara got out while the valet looked at David's vehicle as if it were a cockroach trying to climb up his leg.

"See you tomorrow night, David."

"Hey, Miss Croft, what say I show you the sights tomorrow?You know, Coney Island, Statue of Liberty, stuff like that?"

"Hmmmmm..."Lara considered."On one condition."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Will you for Heaven's sake STOP calling me 'Miss Croft'?I'm beginning to feel like your high school teacher."

_I've got news for you, lady, Mr. Dolphus never looked like you!_"Deal...Lara.I'll pick you up at eleven."He faced forward and drove out of the parking lot.Lara watched him go, feeling absurdly happy.

"...bag, miss?"

"Huh?" She turned to see the valet looking at her.

"Take your bag, miss?"The young man smiled and let his gaze linger over Lara's healthy form.

Lara was feeling too good to let that bother her the way it usually did."Yes, you may, and step lively, young man...I've got a lot to do tonight.And if you're good, I'll give you a big tip once we get up to my room."She walked ahead of the valet who had basically found his first good reason to be at work that night.He followed her to the front desk, then up to her room like a loyal puppy.

After setting her bag on the bed, he walked up to her, stood only a pace away and asked slyly, "Now, then, baby...howzabout that tip?"

"Certainly."

The valet leaned in close...then found that he had leaned too far.In fact, he kept moving forward even though he didn't want to.He found himself being turkey-walked to the door and pushed roughly out into the hall.He kept going, even though the strong grip wasn't there anymore, and smacked into the opposite wall. 

As he fell to the floor and rubbed his nose, Lara leaned out the door and said, "Here's your tip, dastard...never let your eyes linger too long over a woman's body.She MIGHT get offended and pound your pimply face in."She closed the door with a SLAM and the valet found himself with a need to take a cold bath.A long one.

The next day, Lara went through her daily exercise routine. First, gymnastics practice and free weights in the health spa, then a couple of hours swimming laps in the pool, much to the delight of many of the male guests and staff.After that, she got ready for David by selecting a sundress, sandals and a wide-brimmed hat.

Thus armed for recreation, she went downstairs to meet David.

The first shock of the day was seeing David drive up to the entrance in a clean version of his car!Lara walked up to the car and looked through the spotless windows to see that the inside had not only been picked up, the vinyl had been cleaned and the floor vacuumed!She looked up at David as he came around to the passenger's side."Why, David...did you go buy a new car for the occasion?"

"Ha ha.I'll have you know that I clean my car like this on a regular basis."

Lara didn't believe that for a second."Of course."She stepped back as David came close to her, then opened the car door for her."You're actually opening the door for me?Who are you and what have you done with the real David?" she smirked.

"Oh, I am just wetting my shorts, you are so funny.Will you get in the car already?"

Still smiling, Lara sat in the shotgun seat and looked around."I must admit, it's quite a clean-up job.You must have spent a couple of hours working on it."

"Not really..."FOUR hours is more like it...! David thought.

"Well, David, I am impressed.What have you got planned for today?"

"Nothing.We'll just make it up as we go along."

"Sounds intriguing."

David drove away, passing a disgruntled valet who watched them leave with venom in his gaze.

Lara and David spent the next six hours discovering things about each other.

Their first stop took them to an art exhibition, which Lara enjoyed more than David did.While Lara was appreciating the inspiration behind some of the modern sculptures, David was in the gift shop looking for something nice to give to Lara ("just a souvenir, that's all" he kept telling himself).After that, David looked around for a place they'd be able to enjoy together.

Lara was the one that found it."Mind if we go in there to browse?" she asked, pointing to a store.David looked up at the sign over the door.

MIKE'S HANDGUNS.

"Sure," he said, and they walked in.From that moment on, everything just clicked for them.After a long time of driving around, wondering how to break the ice, Lara and David found themselves talking like old friends about a favorite subject, even getting into a heated discussion about the pros and cons of grain ratio versus caliber size when it came to stopping power.

"Look, I'm telling you, the Colt Python has a lot more stopping power than the Uzi, even on full auto."

"I know quite a few wolves and alligators who would disagree with you."

"But the Makarov..."

"Hah!I know...!"

"...Desert Eagle .50...!"

"...Linebaugh..."

"...Casull .454...!"

"...charging lions...!"

"...sharks...!"

"...dynamite...!"

"ENOUGH!"

Lara and David looked towards the proprietor, a balding man who was clearly losing his mind."Yes?" they both asked.

"Would you mind keeping it down??You starting to scare my customers!"

"Oh, sorry."David blushed a little, then noticed the clock behind the proprietor."Lara, you're not going to believe this, but we've got to get going already, if we're going to make it to the museum opening."

Lara noted the time on her wristwatch."Blimey!You're right!Looks like your driving will come in handy after all."She looked to the manager."Thank you for your time, sir," she said and ran out the door, David close behind.

The manager noticed his empty store and hoped that business would pick up again soon."Who do those two think they are, anyhow...Mr. and Mrs. Indiana Jones??"

After a breakneck chase and a hastily explained reason for the speed to a polite but determined police officer, David and Lara arrived at her hotel."Well, another one bites the dust," David said, tossing the wadded-up ticket into his back seat.

"Don't you pay those?"

"Nope.I just go in at night and remove them from the computer.There's so much paperwork there that nobody'll look for it and they'll just forget about itIt would take far too much effort for them to look for it...they've got better things to do.Hey, it keeps me on the streets."

"If that's an attempt to redeem your actions, try again.It condemns more than it exonerates."Lara grinned and left the car."I'll see you in two hours."

"Okay...but I've got another surprise for you."Before Lara could ask what the surprise could be, David drove off.She turned and walked back into the hotel.The valet considered the idea of paying her back for his embarrassment, but changed his mind when he saw the name on the shopping bag Lara was carrying into the hotel.As the valet rightly reasoned, _Never mess with a woman carrying guns._

That evening, a stretch limo drove up to Lara's hotel.The door opened and David stepped out, wearing an expensively rented tux, complete with double-breasted jacket, spotless shoes and black cufflinks.He had even styled his hair and shaved, making him barely recognizable.

Lara watched him from the balcony, impressed.He had gone from a generally appealing man with rough edges to someone who looked as if he could out-Bond 007 himself._He still had that walk to him,_ Lara noted with amusement, the walk of a cowboy._Now it's time for MY surprise,_ she thought, taking a deep breath.As she walked to the elevator, Lara did her best to quiet the nervousness in the pit of her stomach._I never before understood what people meant by the phrase, "butterflies in the stomach."Now I understand...and I wish I didn't._

David paced the concrete by the limo while the chauffeur read a newspaper inside._Damn, damn, damn....will you fercrissakes CALM DOWN?!Geez, you're like a virgin going to a whorehouse...no, wrong analogy to use.WRONG analogy.Lesse..._

"David?"

He looked up and his mouth dropped open.His jaw hit the concrete, broke through and began drilling for oil.The chauffeur looked up, saw Lara, and dropped his newspaper.

Lara was dressed in a stark black evening gown, slit up the left side to the knee and plain except for a silver sprinkle of stars weaving their way up her side and front. Her hair was loose and flowing down her back like an auburn waterfall, the constant braiding turning her normally straight hair into a smooth wavy cascade down her back.She had touched up her face with some make-up, but only enough to highlight her features.She also wore an intricate necklace, a ladies' watch, two small triangular earrings and, to add to the allure, four-inch heels.A delicate purse completed the ensemble.

Lara smiled edgily and twirled slowly."What do you think?"

_I'm in love..._ David thought, then said sincerely, "You look....beautiful."The way he said it made delicious goosebumps cover Lara's arms and legs.

"Thank you," Lara said, taking in a close look at David."You look utterly spectacular.Truly transformed.If I'd known you looked this way in a tuxedo, I would've invited you to a fancy occasion much earlier."

David blushed, then composed himself.He swept an arm towards the limousine."Your chariot awaits without, mademoiselle."

Lara cocked an eyebrow."Without what?"

"Without us if we don't hustle.We're already late enough as it is!"David opened the car door and helped Lara in, then got in himself and told the driver, "The museum, James."

"You know his name?" Lara asked.

"All chauffeurs are named James...it's like a law of nature."

The chauffeur, in a supreme display of professionalism, turned his head away from Lara Croft and drove the limo away from the hotel.The black car parked in the lot across the street turned its lights on and followed.Inside, the driver picked up a radio."She's on her way...and she's got somebody with her."

"How nice.A date."The woman's voice dripped acid and the driver was suddenly glad that he was miles away."This gets even better.Call me as soon as they reach the museum."

Lara and David got out of the limo and walked up the marble steps to the Metropolitan Museum of History.Banners over the entrance proclaimed, "THE MYSTERY OF THE MAYANS," in red and black, with the face of a Mayan statue adorning the standards.David and Lara looked about them, noting all the cameracrews of the TV stations."This must be a big event," said David.

"The exhibits are going to be showing off some of the items I picked up the last time I was in Central America.Lovely, fascinating stuff."

"Hence, your own interest."

"I just want to see that the exhibits are displayed in the right context, make sure that their information is correct."

They walked past an announcer with blonde hair who was saying, "All have gathered tonight to see the spectacle, including our own Mayor and Police Commissioner.The event promises to be one to remember."

Lara paused.The voice sounded vaguely familiar.She was about to mention it to David, then decided against it._After all, this is my night to enjoy myself.No tombs, no city-sized crypts with wild animals and mummified creatures stalking me.Just me and David._She smiled and snuggled a little closer to him._Just David and me.I like the sound of that._

Inside, Lara and David made the rounds.Actually, Lara made the rounds, David just stuck by her.She observed some of the speculations made on many of the items in the exhibits and shook her head._Amazing how wrong some people could be about archaeology.Let them dodge some booby-traps and lava pits, ask them then whether or not these tribes were "primitive."_

"Lara Croft?"

She turned as an older man stepped up to her, smiling."Yes?"

"Sir Winston Smythe, Oxford.I've been reading your work on these exhibits.Remarkable work!"He shook her hand."You're a credit to your profession."He turned to David."And who is this sharply-dressed gentleman?"

"David Connors."

"Connors...Connors...I don't recall that name from the Archaeological Registries.What sort of work do you do?Early Persian?Egyptian dynasties?"

"Actually, I work in areas much more recent."

"Ahh, I see, a historian...of what century?"

"This one."

"Sir Winston, I hate to dash, but I've got to speak to a couple of the curators, so, if you'll pardon us...!"Lara steered David away."A 'recent events historian'?"

"Sure.As recent as yesterday.I go through a lot of people's garbage to find out info I need to know about them.You'd be surprised what you can find out about a person's history by their leavings, even if it isn't from some ancient culture."

Lara chuckled."Too true, too true.If you'll pardon me, David, I'm off to the loo.I'll be right back...don't go away."

"Alright, I'll just hang around and try to look intellectual."

"Don't sprain anything."She squeezed his hand and moved towards the restrooms.David watched her go until he lost sight of her among the throng of guests, then decided to see what the press were saying.As he was walking up, his cellular phone rang and he picked it up quickly.

"What is it?" he whispered.

"Dave, this is Mike, over at Channel Twelve."

"Mike, this is not the time.I'm off duty."

"Are you at the Museum?"

"Yeah, remember, I told you, I was taking tonight off to get here, why?"

"We just got a call from one of our reporters.He told me that he and his crew were waylaid on the way there and some people stole his van and equipment.They took them to a warehouse and tied them up there."

David looked up."Mike, this is not funny.I can see your guys in the media pit, with all the others."

"Dave, something screwy is going on."

"Tell me about it.Our guy says that all the other reporters assigned to the Museum tonight WERE ALL THERE AT THE WAREHOUSE."

David stopped, then looked up at the reporters."They're not here??"

"No!"

"You're right, something IS..."

Machinegun fire startled David out of his conversation and he looked up to see that the cameracrews and reporters weren't carrying microphones and cameras anymore.Every single one now carried a submachinegun!

When the firing stopped and all the security guards were subdued, the blonde reporter called out, "NOBODY TRIES ANYTHING FUNNY AND YOU WILL ALL GET TO LIVE.IF ONE PERSON TRIES TO BE A HERO, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU WILL DIE!!"

Lara Croft had just finished washing her hands when she heard the gunfire outside.She was alone in the restroom, so nobody saw her pull up the hem of her gown and reach between her legs to pull out a slim machine pistol and a long clip.She slapped the clip into the butt of the weapon and pulled the hammer back, wondering, _What the blazes is going on???_

She opened up the door a crack and saw the blonde on the main podium take the microphone.When she gave her statement to the prisoners, a chord was struck in Lara's mind._NO...it can't be!!Not here, not now!!_

David stuck the phone in his inside pocket as the blonde barked into a radio, "Seal the doors.No one goes in or out."Then she looked down at the audience."Now then...first off, which one of you is David Connors?"

David didn't move a muscle.

"David Connors, if you do not identify yourself at the count of five," she commanded, reaching down into a case and pulling out a strange, wide-barreled weapon.The woman pointed it at a statue and fired, sending a fireball a foot in diameter at the statue's head, vaporizing it with a loud BOOM!!!She looked down at the terrified crowd once again, aiming the weapon at them, continuing, "Ten people will die.One...two...three..."

"Hold it."

The blonde looked down as David moved through the crowd towards the podium.The "reporters" kept their guns trained on him as he climbed up and stopped at the edge.

"I'm David Connors.Who the hell are you?"

The crowd held its breath at David's words, fearing retribution.The woman looked at him, then laughed, a bold, strong laugh tinged with insanity."I'll tell you who I am."She reached up and pulled at her chin.Part of her face came away, then the whole thing stretched and ripped as the blonde pulled the attractive facade away to reveal a scarred face beneath.It was a beautiful face once, but it was scarred and pitted now...and that face came close to David's own.He didn't flinch as she hissed, red bat wings unfurling from under her clothes, "MY NAME....IS NATLA.JACQUELINE NATLA."

Lara moved back into the restroom, a cold hand around her heart._I don't believe it!A blasted PYRAMID fell on her!_

That cold hand squeezed tighter as she heard Natla yell, "IF YOU DON'T COME ON OUT IN THE NEXT SIXTY SECONDS, YOUR BOY DAVID IS GOING TO KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO FEEL BURNED ALIVE!!!"


	3. Goodnight Kiss

**Goodnight Kiss**

**By C. Mage**

The crowd looked on in horror at the monstrosity that dominated the stage, her wings spreading as if shielding the platform.Her face, only barely recognizable as human, gazed out over the stunned throng.As if to spite her face and wings, she still wore the well-tailored suit dress like an executive...from Hades.

"WELL, LARA...WHAT IS IT GOING TO BE?ARE YOU GOING TO DO THE NOBLE THING AND COME ON OUT...OR DOES THIS MAN DIE TONIGHT??"Natla waited, scanning the crowd, looking for the face that had kept her going, kept her alive even after she'd crawled and squirmed her way out from under the rubble of the pyramid, long enough to devour what was left of her guardian demons and let herself heal."WHAT DO YOU SAY??" she shrieked.

In the last echoes of Natla's words, an answer came.

Lara steeled herself and said the hardest words she'd ever said in her life."GO AHEAD, NATLA.HE MEANS NOTHING TO ME...HE WAS JUST SOME MUG WHO VOLUNTEERED TO SHOW ME AROUND TOWN.SHOOT HIM!"She bolted back into the restroom, then heard the familiar BOOM of Natla's gun.The sound chilled her to the bones, but she realized that Natla would have killed them both anyway.She clambered up into the ventilation duct._Please, David, forgive me..._ she thought as she moved through the shaft, wiping the fresh tears from her cheeks.

Jacqueline blinked, surprised by Lara's words and, for just a moment, lowered the gun an inch...and David took the opportunity.He backed up and kicked high, knocking the gun from her hand.As it hit the floor and discharged, hitting two of the fake newsmen, David dove for cover while Natla recovered.

"GET HIM!!" she bellowed, her face twisting from ugly to hideous with rage."GET THEM BOTH!!!"

The newsmen obeyed, ignoring the patrons as they bolted as one for the main doors.Natla saw them making a break for freedom and snarled, "YOU AND YOU," she said, pointing to two of the newsmen, "STOP THEM!!"_That's the problem with speed-grown clones...they're dumber than bricks!_ Natla thought as they hastened to obey, firing into the crowd, but they were far too panicked to stop.

Natla had an idea.She picked up the fireball gun and blew away three of the main windows of the display area.As she surmised, the museum's anti-theft protection system came on-line, sealing off all exits and entrances to the museum. 

The crowd was hysterical now.Herded like stampeding cattle through the foyer, they kept running even as they saw the thick theft-proof doors coming down over the exits.Many of them made it, but the last few were crushed by the thick door.

Natla didn't care.Her Enemy was trapped inside.Right now, Natla cared about NOTHING save the utter destruction of Lara Croft."Find her!Rip this whole place apart if you have to, but I want her found!!If you find her, bring her to me alive!No exceptions!"She looked around, but David had made good his escape."And find HIM...I want that annoying little bug FOUND and STEPPED ON.Kill him on SIGHT!!!" she screamed; her madness was likewise screaming and she didn't care who heard her.

All that mattered to her was holding Lara's dying heart in her bloody hands...and the main reason why she'd come to the museum in the first place.

Lara stopped next to one of the main shafts.She was starting to shake at the thought of David burned alive by Natla, hot feelings of sorrow and revenge going through her.Even as she felt her rage, the powerful passions scared her."I SWEAR, Natla...you're going to pay for David's death!I promise you...!"

"Then Death must be like being trapped in a museum..." came a faint voice to her left.

"DAVID...???" she asked, daring to hope.

"Yep..." he said, crawling around a corner and moving over to her position."So, what's a nice girl like you doing in a shaft like this?"He would've said more, but Lara stopped him in a most delightful way, leaning over and grabbing him in a powerful embrace, kissing him, unbelievably glad that David was alive.

After a moment, Lara pulled away, suddenly realizing what she'd done and blushing furiously."I'm sorry..." she said meekly.

David had never seen Lara meek before; it was shocking, to say the least."Never apologize for your feelings, Lara," he said awkwardly, then his face grew hard again."In any case, we'll have to discuss this later.We're trapped inside a museum with someone who wants you deader than Elvis.Our relationship will have to wait."

The reminder of Natla galvanized Lara and she nodded, all trace of vulnerability gone in her face."You're right, of course.Any ideas?"

"Who, me?"David looked down the way he'd come."We can't leave, which means we have to fight."

"Are you sure about this?I've handled Natla before," she held up the machine pistol, "and I've got this."

"You keep it," David said, countering the unspoken question Lara was asking with her eyes."I don't need it."

"Those are armed men and women with guns out there, David.Pardon me if I say so, but you'd be helpless against them unarmed."

David turned to her in the dark."One thing you're going to have to learn about me right now, Lara.I don't _do_ 'helpless'."He looked around."I think this is the way to the Medieval Room.Come on."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Simple.Problem: I don't have a weapon.Solution: I _get_ one."He turned down the metal vent and began crawling, Lara following close behind.

Two of the clones entered the Medieval Room and looked around, saying nothing.They only had enough brainpower to do what Natla programmed them to do, and beyond acting like reporters, they weren't conversationalists.Even as they searched, they followed pre-programmed routines, flesh-and-blood golems with nothing on their minds but what they were told.

"Hey, boys....!"

They turned to their right to see Lara looking suggestively at them, her hips cocked."What does a girl have to do to get any attention around here?"They ran towards her and she smiled, stepping quickly around a corner and running down a corridor lined by thick columns.When she got to the end, she turned and said, defeated, "Alright...you win."

They advanced towards her, guns raised...

"Pardon me."

They turned and died.As their heads dropped to the floor, David lowered the claymore he'd used to bisect the two and looked to Lara."You okay?"

"Right as rain.They don't look so good, by comparison."She studied David."Was it necessary to alert them first?"

"Wanted to make sure they'd stop.Besides," he smiled, pointing down to the heads with their shocked looks etched forever on their faces, "you get a better expression that way."

"Charming.How many are left?"

"When I counted the ones in the hall, I came up with twenty.Down to eighteen."He picked up one of the Uzis the clones had carried."The odds, however, are significantly changed," he added with a grin.

Lara picked up the other Uzi."Now what?"

"Simple."He picked up the claymore and hauled it back one-handed."Duck!"

Lara dropped instinctively and David swung the sword, hurling it in a wide arc across the room, where it impaled a third clone coming to investigate.She turned, eyes widening, then looked up at David with a new respect."I never knew you could do that," she said, awed by the skill it would take to throw a blade that huge with such accuracy.

David looked at his hand."Neither did I.But I guess there's a first time for everything."

Lara's awe took wings and flapped away."Luck?"

"What else?I don't throw swords as a hobby."

"Amusing.But now we have to get through the next few hours alive."Lara considered."Holing up in one place won't work..."

"Wait a minute..." David looked around the room."What exhibits were presented tonight?"

"Weren't you listening?They were Mayan artifacts brought back from the Tomb of Tihocan."

"Yes, but WHAT items?"

"Why?"

"Lara, who did you tell about coming to this exhibit?"

"No one except some of my staff."

"Would any of them have ratted you out to Natla?"

"Not in a billion years.Why?"

"That means that before three nights ago, no one but you knew that you were coming here.Lara, we've got to get to those exhibits."

"Why?"

"Natla wasn't here to nail you.She couldn't have gone to the trouble of growing those clones so quickly, not in two days.She came here for another reason; you were just _lagniappe_."

"'_Lagniappe_'?"

"Cajun French for 'extra'.Tell me about those exhibits, the special ones."He moved to the vent again and they began crawling back towards the Main Hall.

Lara whispered detailed knowledge of each of the more ceremonial artifacts as they crawled towards a vent fan, going up to the next floor."Let's see, there was the war knife, the headdress, the paints, the ointments..."

"Wait.The ointments.What are they supposed to do?"

"I don't know.The containers were the real find, especially the artwork on the sides.Anything that was in those jars went bad a long time ago."

"Are you sure?"

Lara thought about it."No.We hadn't time to test their contents."

"What if the contents of one of those jars holds what Natla's looking for?"

Lara stopped and leaned against the side of the vent."Hold on...whew, it's hot in here.I've gotta rest."

"Hot...aw, NO."He felt the sides of the vent."Lara, we've got to get out of here, now!Natla's turned up the thermostat.It's going to get way too hot for comfort!"

Lara put her bare hand on the metal."We've got about five minutes before the walls get too hot to touch."She was already sweating."Where to?"

"I think the nearest vent to the surface is this way."He took off as fast as he could crawl.Lara followed.

One of the clones, one made to look like the host of"Good Morning, New York", walked into the Native American Room, scanning the area and moving the gun from side to side.She turned a corner into the Anasazi exhibit and saw something on the floor...a small black purse.She picked it up.

"YOO hoo!"

She looked up and saw David waving from around a corner forty feet away."Are those BLONDE roots I can see from here?"

The clone aimed, but David had disappeared around the corner.She ran towards the place where she last saw David...but never got there.She suddenly began jerking around like a marionette with her strings tangled, then dropped to the floor, smoke coming from the hand clutching the purse.

Lara ran out from behind a statue and ran up to the corpse, picking up her purse."That'll teach you to steal a woman's accessory," she said dryly as David came back around to stop at the clone's corpse.It was already starting to deteriorate.

"How nice...they're not only capable of carrying a submachinegun, but they're biodegradable, too.Remind me to compliment Natla on her eco-consciousness."

"Remind ME to do the same about her little anti-theft device.Of course, I had to modify it a bit."

"A BIT?"David looked up at Lara."Now I know why the sun never set on the British Empire."

"Thanks.The hall should be this way."She picked up the other Uzi and held one in each hand."Now I feel much better."

"You would.Come on."

They crept around the corner and looked down into the hall from the second-story balcony.Natla had already picked out the ointments from the display and held one high.

"THIS...."She opened the bottle."...shall make me as powerful and as beautiful as I once was, before Lara Croft came along and ruined my plans."

_Don't forget, Natla, YOU hired ME,_ Lara thought, but decided now wasn't the time to debate.

She opened the jar and a wisp of blue smoke came forth, wafting around her and giving her an unearthly glow.Natla chuckled, then laughed as she raised the elixir to her lips.

Lara raised both Uzis.David looked down and his eyes widened, but before he could stop her, Lara fired a shot from each weapon.The bullets shattered the jar in her hands, spilling the potion everywhere.

Natla HOWLED in defeat as she saw the liquid spread all over the floor, then evaporate away.She went to her hands and knees in an attempt to lick the potion up from the floor, but it dissolved too quickly.Natla looked up at the source of the shots and saw Lara and David looking down at her.

David dragged Lara back as Natla bellowed, "KILL THEM!!!" the clones hastening to obey.They riddled the balcony with machine-gun fire, chopping the stone away from the superstructure, but the two adventurers had already gone.

"Dammit, Lara Croft, could you have possibly been a little LESS inconspicuous??"David said angrily.

"If she had drank from that jar, we'd be in a great deal more trouble than we are now," she replied, unruffled.They passed a doorway and lead swarmed through the opening; if they hadn't been running at full speed, the conversation would've ended right there.So would've their vital functions.

"Explain that to me!"

"She was difficult enough to kill before...if she'd imbibed, she would've been at FULL strength again, and unless you have a bazooka handy, we wouldn't have been able to kill her."

_I HATE it when she makes sense._"Alright, then, now what?"

"Now we run VERY fast!"

"Good plan!"David dove under another hail of death._Damn, that was too close..._"THEN what?"

"I'm open to suggestions!" Lara yelled back.They stopped in the Ancient Egypt Room, going into a mockup of one of the Great Pyramids and weaving through the stone halls, losing themselves in the maze.Lara and David stopped."Any ideas?"

David tried to catch his breath."We're outnumbered."

"Too right."

"So we have to find a way to take them out all at once...or as many as possible."He leaned back against one of the walls."Wait...I have an idea.That last clone really went to pieces when you shocked it like that.If I know my bio-chemistry, that means that they must be unstable to some degree, on a molecular level."

"That makes sense.How does that help us?"

"First...we've got to get them all in one place.I need to see a map of this museum..."He stopped as the soft sounds of footsteps came from behind them."…not to mention get out of here.Let's go."

"Right behind you."

They traversed the maze in record time and exited out the back, taking the stairs down to the first floor and then down to the basement.David led the way as he weaved through the offices."Where is it, where is it...here we go!"

Lara looked up at the door David had stopped at...it read, "MAINTENANCE ROOM #2."

David jimmied the door and entered quickly, closing it behind Lara and relocking the door.Lara turned on a light while David went to the large filing closet in the back.As he opened the closet, he grinned."Blueprints.That's the ticket.Alright," he said as he spread out sheets of paper on the large desk in the corner, "where...there.That's perfect.Lara, can you lure the clones into the Main Hall?"

"That shouldn't be too hard."

"Without getting shot?"

Lara considered."THAT might be hard," she admitted.

David looked pained."We're only going to get one shot at this...and I don't...."He stopped.

Lara read the rest of the sentence on his face._...don't want to see me get hurt?_"That's very sweet of you, David, but I'm a big girl...and if we don't get rid of those clones, being hurt will be the least of our worries."

"Maybe there's another way..."David turned back to the blueprints.

"There's no time, David," Lara said softly.David looked up at her."Do what you have to do, David.I promise I'll try not to get shot."She turned and went to the door, peeking outside, and opening it quickly.

"Lara?"

She turned back."What?"

"Call me Dave, ok?"

Lara smiled."Took you long enough."Then she was gone.

David watched her go, then grabbed some tools and went to the main climate-control board."First...let's chill out a bit."He turned down the temperature from 100 degrees to 60 degrees, then climbed up through the main vent.

He had some vital plumbing to do.

Lara moved silently out to the doors of the Main Hall, peering through a crack.Natla was there, alright, and she was in full temper."HOW COULD YOU HAVE LOST HER!?!FIND HER AND DESTROY HER!!"The clones listened, only knowing fear when it came to their creator."THERE'S TWENTY OF YOU AND ONE OF HER!!"

_You'd better be ready, Dave....!!_"Sounds like about even odds to me."

Natla's eyes went as wide as dinner platters as she saw Lara standing by the doors to the Main Hall.Natla's voice went up three octaves as she fanatically shrieked, "KILL HER!!!!!!!!!"

Lara bolted out and closed the doors, feeling them begin to disintegrate under the onslaught of flying lead.She jumped clear as the doors began to splinter and skirted around the giant fountain.There was no sign of David anywhere.

The clones burst down the doors and fired, emptying their clips at Lara Croft.She felt one zip past her ear, then felt one graze her right shoulder.The main stairs going up were just ahead...only fifty more feet to go.Then she felt a spattering of water and hazarded a look behind her.

The flow of the fountain had turned into a gusher, raining water all over the Hall. 

A bullet impacted into her side and she slowed, feeling the bullet hot in her side.Another struck her left arm, nearly dislocating it, and a third rammed itself deep in her right thigh.She stumbled, but she'd taken far worse hits before in her career and she ran on.

She made it to the stairs as the clones paused, bettering their aim by standing still.She could feel the blood running down her body, but Lara didn't stop; to stop meant being a sitting duck."David Connors, where the bloody hell are you?" she called desperately.

"Right here."

She looked to her far right to see David dropping something to the floor...a long cable.The clones turned and looked high to see David at a circuit junction, his hands on a switch."How about a light?" he asked dryly,throwing the switch.

The lights went out in a ten-block radius around the Museum.

The electricity hungrily reached out and consumed the clones, ripping them apart with about ten to fifteen gigavolts.They nearly blew apart as their bodies were flash-fried by the voltage.Lara jumped clear of the watered area, as the electricity threatened to follow her up the stairs.She rolled painfully to the top level of the stairs as David swung down using the inert part of the cable he'd cut. He landed next to Lara as the circuit breakers blew and the Museum was plunged into darkness.When the emergency lighting came on, he saw the blood running from Lara's wounds.Her eyes were closed.

"LARA!"He began ripping his tuxedo and binding the wounds."Come on, Lara, wake up."

Her eyes opened and she looked up at David."Your sense...of timing leaves something to be desired."

"I'm glad to see you, too."David felt himself tearing up.

"Well, well, isn't THIS a touching scene?"

David heard the flapping of wings and looked up, seeing Natla fly through the open doors."Lara Croft, why can't you just be a good little girl and die?" she asked in a tone a concerned mother might use.

"You...first," Lara gritted.

"Ha ha."Natla raised the fireball gun and pointed it at them."I had big plans, Lara Croft...now, the only satisfaction I shall have is that though I will have to wait a long time for my wounds to heal, the wait will be worth it knowing that you'll be long since dead.NO, don't try it, hero!" she barked as David shifted on one leg."You even BREATHE wrong and I'll kill you right now.I may yet kill you, but I may not."

"Bull.You'll kill me, all right.People like you always enjoy their work far too much."

"Maybe you're right.But why risk it?"Natla turned back to Lara."Tell your boyfriend to step away, Lara...unless you want him to die, too, when I pull this trigger.No last words, no last requests, Lara."

Lara looked up at David."Dave..."

"Don't worry, Lara...I've got her right where I want her."David looked up at Natla as he stepped backwards."Just close your eyes, Lara...don't watch it coming."

"Nice words, Mr. Connors."Natla watched as he stepped back."Put your hands over your head.Now."

David looked at Lara and she closed her eyes, tears of mixed pain and loss going down her cheeks."Now?"

"NOW!"

"Whatever you say." David raised his arms slowly upwards.When they reached full height, a blinding flash burned from his chest and Natla howled, stepping back as her retinas shut down, overloaded.Even with her eyes closed, Lara could see the light.

Natla rubbed her eyes, trying to clear them.They responded quickly, clearing and recovering thanks to her enhanced genetic structure, but when Natla was able to see, she suddenly wished she couldn't.

Lara was standing in front of her...holding HER weapon.

"Now...let's see..." Lara said nonchalantly, then added in a dark, fury-filled voice, "IS THIS HOW IT WORKS??"She pulled the trigger and held it down.

The barrel spat fireballs in rapid succession, hitting Natla at point-blank range.She screamed in pain as the fireballs set her alight and blasted her through the railing of the balcony!Lara still held onto the weapon with both hands, continuing the stream of hot, fiery death as Natla fell to the floor below.After she'd fired thirty shots, Lara staggered downstairs to the burning corpse and commenced firing once again, blasting the burning body to bits until the weapon overheated, cracking in her hands.She dropped the gun on the remains of Jacqueline Natla and backed away quickly, watching it melt and sputter into slag.

David raced downstairs, looking at the embers."Remind me to never get you that mad at ME."

"Dave?"

"Yes?" he asked, concerned.

"Are they all dead?"

"Dead or extremely sleepy."

"Good.David...what was that light I didn't see?"

"You mean the flashbomb?Something I had made up for situations like this."

"Do you always carry something like that on you?"

"Do you have any idea how often a mugging takes place in New York?"

"Oh."Only then did Lara allow herself to faint from blood loss.

She woke up in a white room, lying down in a hospital bed.Lara looked around to see David asleep in a chair next to her bed.The sun was shining through the window and the sky was clear and blue.

A nurse came in and smiled."Ah, good. You're awake.How do you feel?"

"Like bloody hell."

She smiled."You looked it when you came in.Your friend there had carried you in two days ago and he hasn't left your side since.He must care about you a great deal."

"Oh?"

"Yes...he threatened to shoot anyone who came in to tell him that visiting hours were over."The nurse smiled widely."Wish I knew a man who cared that much about me.You two married?"

"No."

The nurse looked at David."Is he your brother?"

"Not by a long shot...and no, he's not available."_Did I just say what I think I just said??_

The nurse sighed."Story of my life.I'll leave you two alone."She left the room.The sound of the closing latch roused David and his eyes opened wearily.His eyes were raw and bloodshot.The first thing he did was look to Lara, whose eyes were closed.He sat up, then leaned over to look at Lara.

"Lara?Lara, can you hear me?" 

No answer.

David sighed."I wish you could hear me, Lara.I really do...I've got so much to tell you and I don't know if I have the time.You looked pretty bad...the docs said that your heart had stopped when you came in and that you had very little blood left in your body."He took a ragged breath."I wanted that night to be real special for us, you know?The first date...and everything went so wrong, so damned WRONG.The only reason I wish Natla had survived what you'd done to her was so I could kill her again for what she did to you.I wanted to tell you...needed to tell you how I felt, but I was just too damned proud to admit it to anyone, least of all myself.I never knew how much I really felt about you until you left me...and I had no one to tell."David blinked, somehow finding the tears to cry again."I love you, Lara Croft.I really do and I wish I hadn't waited until you were in a coma to tell you.Can you hear me, Lara?"

Lara could, but it took all her resolve not to go to pieces herself.All she could think of was her own pride...and how she'd felt about David.

"I wish...I wish I could have done it all over again.I've lost two women in my life...one to my job and now, you.But I'm not giving up." He got up and pulled his jacket closed."I promise I'll come to visit you every day," he said as he shuffled towards the door.

"Twice on Sundays," Lara said clearly, her eyes still closed.

"Alright, twice on Sundays..."David left the room.Lara counted off the seconds in her mind._One chimpanzee, two chimpanzee, three chimpanzee, four chimpanzee..._

The door BANGED open and Lara sat up to see David standing in the doorway, murder on his face."WHY YOU...!!!!" he roared, stomping towards the bed.

"Now remember, Dave, I'm a sick woman!" Lara said quickly.

"NO KIDDING!!!!"He reached out for her.

"You wouldn't hit a woman in a hospital bed, would you?"A tinge of fear colored her voice.

"No...I'd STRANGLE her!!!"

The nurse came back into the room."What's going on...?"

"GET OUT!!" David said, his voice unnaturally deep.The nurse took the hint and left the room, closing the door behind her."YOU ROTTEN LITTLE...!!"

"Now hold on, Dave..."

"DAVID to you, MISS CROFT."

_Uh oh..._"Before you kill me, Dave...David, would you hear me out?"

David paused, inches away from her throat, then dropped his hands."You've got ten seconds...!"

"Alright, David, let me ask you something...if I was up and about, how much of that conversation would I have heard?"

David opened his mouth to retort, but nothing came out.

"Precisely...I wouldn't have heard Word One of what you'd said...and I wouldn't have known how you felt about me."

"So now you can sit there and laugh at me??"

"Not likely, David." Lara's voice grew quiet."You see, David, if you had never told me how you felt about me...I wouldn't have had the courage to say what I'm going to say right now."She took a deep breath, then went for it."I've always relied upon myself, ever since that day up in the Himalayas.I've had to be strong to succeed in a male-dominated world, and I guess that I've always had a chip on my shoulder about that.I was always slow to respecting men because they'd always looked at me and saw the body...not the brains or the heart, the real me.I never tried to change my appearance because that wasn't my fault.I wasn't about to change just to suit someone else, so I got into a habit of being a loner, because I thought that that was enough for me."

The ten seconds had passed, but no one in the room noticed.

"But it wasn't.I may have become a strong woman, David, but I was still a woman.I wanted to feel like one, for just a little while.You made me feel that way, David...and I became scared.Scared to death, in fact.You made me feel vulnerable in a way I'd never known, and I hated that feeling.At least, I told myself that I did."She lay back in bed."Amazing what you'll believe if you tell yourself something long enough...even if it isn't true."

"Lara..."

"Please, David...I need to finish this."She took another breath."David, I can't help but feel the way I do about you...I can't fight it anymore.But I wasn't sure if you felt the same way.I couldn't handle being rejected...not by you.So I faked being asleep.I'm sorry, David.I never meant to hurt you and you have every right to hate me for treating you so shabbily.If you left right now...I'll understand."

David looked at Lara, then turned around and walked to the door."Been nice knowing you," he said blandly, and walked out the door.

Lara stared at the door._I can't believe....he just..._ she thought dazedly, her heart on the verge of breaking.

David walked back in again, his face no longer stone."Did you really think it was going to be that easy, Lara Croft?"

"David!!" she exclaimed, her heart soaring once again.

"You don't get rid of ME that easily, Lara.Like it or not, we're stuck with each other, because I can't fight it any longer either." He walked to the edge of the bed."Now, are you going to kiss me, or are you going to keep giving me a hard time?"

The nurse escorted the doctor to the door rapidly."He was insane, doctor!He looked unbearably angry...I think she might be in serious harm!"

The doctor nodded, opening the door and looking in.After twelve seconds, he closed the door again.

"Doctor...is she alright?"

"The only thing we might fear right now is her dying of asphyxiation, thought it appears she's receiving mouth-to-mouth at the moment." He smiled."I diagnose that she not be disturbed right now."

The nurse looked perplexed, then understanding dawned."If you say so, doctor."


	4. The Eyes Of Shiva, Part One: A Man, A Wo

**The Eyes Of Shiva, Part One:**

**A Man, A Woman & A Mouse**

**By C. Mage & Sarah Crisman**

Lara's recovery went well, thanks to the latest in medical technology and a large wad of money from her account in America.David had wondered aloud why her insurance didn't cover her bills and Lara told him that, because of her active lifestyle, she had been rejected by just about every insurance agency in the U.S. and most of the civilized world."Too high a risk," she quipped while going through physical therapy.

David sighed."Well, Lara...what now?We've just survived an assault by an enemy you thought long dead..."

"Wouldn't be the first time."

"...and you've managed to demolish the New York Museum of History..."

"Don't forget, Dave, you helped me on that one. Remember our 'little talks' with the Mayor?"

David smiled, enjoying the sound of her using his nickname."Yeah.Did you notice that little vein that kept popping out on his forehead?"

"Which one?"

"Anyway, the point is, what are we going to do now?"

Lara considered, then broke into a big grin."I believe that one of your famous tourist adverts said it best...let's go to DisneyWorld!"

David stared at Lara while his mind raced._Take Lara Croft to DisneyWorld?It was ludicrous, risky, dangerously close to maniacal.The idea had potential..."Alright, but first, you've got to get well.If we're going to DisneyWorld, you're going to have to be at your best."_

"Why?It's only a tourist attraction, like EuroDisney."

David looked skyward."This ain't EuroDisney."

"If you insist, David."Lara looked down at herself."I feel ridiculous...it's like wearing a muumuu with a giant rip down the back."

"Hey, is it the hospital's fault that it was the only one in your breast size?Count your blessings." David looked at his watch."Listen, I gotta go."

"So soon?" Lara whined in mock petulance.

"Hey, if I'm going to take some time off, I've got to make some arrangements with the office.Plus, I've got to talk to a man about a few items."He smiled."I'll be back later tonight, promise."

"Alright," Lara pouted in a playful attempt to garner sympathy.David kissed her gently and left the room. 

The nurse watched him as he left, her eyes moving up and down David's back."Can I have him when you're done with him?" she asked wistfully.

Lara's mind immediately went to full defensive."Sure...I'll call you in a century or two."

David stopped off at the office to find that his secretary, Luz, had left.The note on her desk spoke about a "family emergency," but David suspected that it was more likely even more unscheduled vacation time.At this point, he was too tired to put up with it and calmly wrote out a letter of termination, mailing it to her home.He then called a moving company he trusted and put in an order to have his furniture and files moved to a secured storage area in upper New York State._Sorry, Luz, but you're not working out...I should've gotten the hint when I came into the office and found her screwing a prospective client._

After he called the landlord and had his lease taken care of, he went to visit Doug.

Doug was a bookish type, slightly overweight with a pair of semi-thick glasses with a couple of extra lenses hooked to his spectacles.He ran a fix-it shop that was rather prosperous, thanks to his clientele and his record of fixing things to run better than they did when they were new.When David walked in, Doug was working on a toaster, placing some coils along a set of guidetracks with a needlenose pliers and a medical clamp.He put down the tools as the bell over the door jingled loudly, turning to see David waiting at the counter.

"David!"Doug got out of his chair and walked out of the workshop, flanked by the shelves containing all sorts of appliances and electronic devices for resale."Good to see you!I heard about my flashbomb...did it work okay?"

"I did better than the last time I tested it."

"Come on, David, I paid for your medical bills and your chest hair grew back, didn't it?"

"It worked.Let's leave it at that."

Doug shrugged."So, what's been going on with you?You and your lady-friend have been making the papers lately.Good for business?"

"Not really.To a lot of people, a scumbag hero is still a scumbag.I haven't had any wonderful offers for jobs."David leaned on the glass showcase that served as the countertop."Listen, I wanted to bring the grapplegun and the flashpak in to get re-loaded."

"That reminds me."Doug went into the back and brought out a fist-sized object made to cover the knuckles of a person's hand, like a very wide set of brass knuckles."I want you to have this."

"You mean, to test this."

"There's a difference?"Doug smiled widely.

"What is it?"

"I refined the design on the grapplegun and made it into a hand-form model."

"THIS is a grapplegun?"He looked at the object, noting a familiar firing assembly."How much line do I have to work with on this thing, a foot?"

"Try three hundred meters."Doug grinned even wider.

"You're shitting!"

"Nope.This forearm unit holds a four-hundred-pound test line."

"How?This thing looks like a toy."David slipped in on over his forearm, buckling the leather straps and rotating his wrist.

"Got it from the military.Newest polymer line.They're planning on using it as the core for their newest ropes and cords, make them lighter and stronger.Problem is, it isn't cost-effective enough for them yet.Friend of mine sent me a spool to get my input on it."

"Geez..."David dropped his sleeve over it.The cloth didn't show a bulge and the device looked like a thick fingerless glove."Where do you come up with this shit?"

"Hey, what can I say?I've got a machine shop, an electronics lab, a chemistry lab and a lotta time on my hands."

"I'll bet.As I recall, you're an insomniac."

"Best kind.Did you know Thomas Edison only slept in ten-minute intervals during the course of his normal day, spreading the intervals out over a period of twenty-four hours?It works, believe me."

"Damn mad scientist." David said in awe.

"You know it."

"So what else do you want me to test?" 

"Well, since you asked..."Doug went into the back while David checked the forearm section, discovering four extra jet grapples with hook mounts."I thought up some interesting stuff while you were out doing...what's the term?"

"Tomb raiding, I think."

"Yeah."Doug came back out with a duffel bag."Here's some gear I think you'll like."He pulled out a slim attaché case."Portable comm unit.Hooks up to the sat network, produces a pseudo-signal that you can use to transmit voice or data on just about all known sat frequencies.Never have to pay a phone bill again."

"Cute."He looked at Doug, placing a hand on his arm before he could withdraw another gadget."Look, this stuff must be costing you a mint.Why give all this stuff to me??"

Doug reached up with his other hand and pushed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose."Listen, David, I've been hearing some things...you're getting the attention of some serious heavyweights, especially since you hooked up with Lara Croft.She's got more enemies and takes more risks than you do.All I can say is that we've been friends for a long time, ever since you saved my butt back in New Orleans.I owe you big time.I just want to make sure you get out of all this in one piece, okay?"Doug's mouth quirked into a smile."Of course, you testing my stuff helps."

David looked at Doug, then smiled a little in return."Okay...but rein it in a bit, I don't want to walk around like James Frigging Bond.I'll set off metal detectors from here to Boise."

"Don't worry.Besides, most of my stuff is ceramic, anyways."

David let go of Doug's arm and he pulled out another device that looked like a slim cellular phone."Increased range, works with the comm unit.You can control the main unit from a remote location, setting it on autopilot or voice activation."He put it down and pulled out a box."New mix of Semtex...think of it as Semtex version 2.8.Radio detonators, timers, everything you need to blow a hole in the world."

"Thanks.I think."David looked at the box warily."Ummmm...could I just leave it here for now?"

"Sure, just let me know when you need it.HERE'S a beauty."He pulled out a keychain with a squarish section of metal hooked to the ring.He pressed the button on the side and a strange piece of ridged metal sprang out."Designed to open 80% of the world's locks...in theory."

"I could use that."He looked at the metal tool."Pretty accessible.Hate to be a wet blanket, but what if someone else gets ahold of it?"

"That's the trick.When you need the tool, press and hold down the button for at least five seconds, even after the tool springs out.If you release it early, BOOM.Wafer sized contact explosive, should destroy the tool and the hand holding it."

"You are certifiable, you know that?"He put the keychain away."Anything else, Doctor Frankenstein?"

"Yeah.Check this out."He brought out a large hunting knife."What do you think?"

"So it's a knife Rambo would love.There are knives like it all over town."

"Not like this one.This one's made of a special alloy that's harder than steel, harder than titanium.It's indestructible, right down to the handle.It should be able to handle stress normal knives would split under.Even has a handy survival kit inside the handle: fishing line, hooks, matches, wire saw, the usual stuff.Well, that's it for this month...see you in a few weeks?"

"Yeah.Going on vacation."

"Well, take the stuff, just in case.Who knows?"

"Yeah, who knows."David waved good bye and left the shop._Now all I need to do is visit one more stop.His face drooped slightly.__Time to visit my wife and kid._

David parked the car and got out, looking around.The grass had been freshly mown and the smell of flowers was in the air._They do some good landscaping around here...quiet neighborhood, too.Kathy and Lliane don't have to worry much about loud parties in this area, that's for sure.He walked across the grass, passing by some trees.After walking for a few minutes, he stopped, then crouched in front of his wife and child._

"Hi, Kathy...hi, Lily," he said to the two tombstones as he reverently placed a rose on the ground on the graves.He gazed at the markers for some time, tears forming in his eyes as he read the etchings in the marble.ERECTED IN LOVING MEMORY BY LOVING HUSBAND AND FATHER.KATHY ANN CONNORS, BORN SEPTEMBER 8, 1971, DIED APRIL 19, 1993.LLIANE DAVIS CONNORS, BORN APRIL 19, 1993, DIED APRIL 19, 1993.

He sat on the grass and looked at the graves."I'm sorry, baby...."

Lara shut her eyes as the nurse slid the needle under her skin.She felt the warm sensation of the medicine as it traveled up through her arm, into her shoulders, and off into the rest of her bloodstream.

"There now; that should do it," the nurse remarked cheerfully.He smiled down at her in a condescending way."The pain should go away in a minute or two."He glanced at his watch for a moment, as though he was going to count the seconds, then returned his gaze to her."You know, most people who are recovering from gunshot wounds don't attempt to fake a miraculous recovery just so they can take a stroll outside with their boyfriend."

"He is NOT my boyfriend," Lara growled.She didn't know quite what he was yet, but boyfriend...that was too strong a word._Business associate, she decided._A very handsome business associate, who just happened to be nice enough to save my life a couple of times._"He's simply a nice man who comes to visit me every now and then."_

"He's been here at least six times over the last day," the nurse commented, making a note of the injection on her chart."Either that's love, or I'm an idiot.Nah, Miss Croft, that is devotion if I ever saw it."

"No," Lara replied, "that is his free time from work.He, like most other citizens of the world, holds a job.And he performs it very well." _Unlike some other person I could mention, she thought.Why was she wasting her energy arguing with this jerk?And now she was tired.Every time they gave her anything, she got tired._

She felt sorry for David, in a way.Several times, he had left a note on her lap that he had come to see her but hadn't wanted to wake her up._Damn it, it's only drugs, she told herself.The arm where she had received the injection was already beginning to numb.She felt her eyes closing, and heard the nurse say something, but it wasn't really comprehensible to her for some reason.There was a jumble of colors, the man said something else, and then she heard footsteps across the floor._

Eyes finally closed all the way, Lara's head tilted softly to one side as the drowsiness overtook her.Her breathing slowed a little, and her brainwave activity began to slump.She could vaguely smell the flowers from the vase Daddy had sent her, and she almost felt like she was back at home in her own bed in England, on a summer night, with the windows open and the smell of the beautiful poppyseed dancing in on the beam of the moon.

Lara Croft fell asleep, dreaming of times long ago.

She dreamed of her first really big find: the set of Nero-stamped gold coins in Rome.How excited she had been then!She dreamed about slinking through the tall grass of Africa.And then she dreamed of flying.She moved slowly, at first, and low to the ground, but then she got more daring and began trying a few swoops.

The flying dream ended, and was replaced with a dream about Michael.

Poor Michael...In the real world, a single tear rolled down Lara's face.The man watching her took this as a sign that she was in pain, and gently placed his hand on her shoulder."Lara...Lara, are you OK?Why are you crying, dear?Where does it hurt?"

The image of Michael faded from her mind, and suddenly she had no recollection of what she had been dreaming about."What?Hurt?What are you talking about?"Her eyes squinted open, and settled upon David's rough-hewn, yet soft face."Oh, David...sorry, just a dream, I suppose.I wish I could remember what it was about..."But the drug was not out of her completely, and she began to drift back.

"I have something for you," David said."Stay awake for a bit longer, you little drugged out girl."He smiled."You know, I wish I could say I envy you..."

"Oh, David, just get to the point," Lara groaned.She was very tired, not in the mood for games and sarcasm.And he said he had something for her.Which was no surprise, because he always brought her something when he came, but...

"Here, I'm going to hang this up."David pressed a pin into the wall above her head and hung the object over her.

"What is that?" she asked, fighting to make the words form.

"A dream-catcher," David told her."To keep the nightmares away.And to help you remember your dreams."

"But the doctors won't-" Lara started.

"I don't care what the doctors think," David said."This is staying up here even if I have to stay awake and in this room for the next week to make sure they don't remove it."

Lara's lips curled into a smile._He certainly was a nice man, she told herself.She wanted to tell him that too, but she began snoring softly before she had the chance._

David put his fingers to his mouth, then pressed them to her lips."_Au revoir_, Lara," he said."I'll be back again soon to visit."He paused, as though hoping for a reply.He glanced furtively over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching, then ducked his head to hers and placed a kiss upon her cheek.

Lara shifted in the bed as David walked to the door, and a small smile crossed her face.But she wasn't aware of it.

The next week was spent with David spending a great deal of time at the hospital.In fact, the nurses suggested bringing in a hide-away bed for him at one point, but the doctor refused.Two days later, David pile-drived an orderly who had also been a part-time molester, visiting some of the women and kids in intensive care and showing off his "equipment."David had been walking by on his way to visit Lara and promptly shoved a steel-toed boot into the aforementioned equipment, called the doctors and conducted a brief, but very informative investigation, with many of the intensive care patients as witnesses.

The next day, the head nurse brought in a hide-away bed for David.

Lara recovered quickly, but the dreams continued to plague her as her biochemistry was subtly altered by the medication she was receiving.As she healed, the medication and the dreams came less and less.David was always there when she woke up.

Finally, the day came when Lara was ready to be released.Under protest, she was wheeled to the door of the hospital in a wheelchair, with David pushing her along.He was silent that morning, most of his usual quips were noticeably absent and Lara could tell that something was on his mind."Shilling for your thoughts, Dave?"

"Huh?Oh...well, there was something I kinda wanted to ask you."

"We agreed, Dave, DisneyWorld."Ever since David had put up the idea, Lara was finding herself more and more eager to go...but she suspected that it was the company, not the vacation site.

"It's not that...I was kinda thinking about afterward.Lara...I know I probably don't have the right to ask, but...would you consider taking on a partner?"

Meanwhile, someone else was dissolving a partnership.

"Manny...you made a big mistake, trying to cut me out," said a tall, remarkably handsome gentleman wearing a $3000 suit and holding a $59 knife up against a $9 rope which was holding up his business partner, who was, at this moment, not worth a bucket of warm cow urine."I don't like it when my business partners cross me..."

"Leo....p-p-p-please..." said Manny, who had tried the stonewalling act already.That was the reason why he was hanging by his heels from the roof of a skyscraper."I can get you the money back, get you the diamond back..."

"It's not the money, or the diamond," Leo said smoothly, as if trying to teach a child her ABC's."It's about PRINCIPLES.Look at me.Leo Daglione, the Lion of Detroit.I own millions of dollars worth of land, employ about half the city, whether they know it or not, and can cause the economic downfall of the state of Michigan simply by moving all my money to the Caiman Islands.Do you think I got all that simply by making deals when it was easiest, or fastest?"He opened his arms as if to embrace the city skyline, his right hand still holding the knife."Easy and fast are terms used to order hamburgers, not run an empire.You thought that, by shafting me and selling the diamond off before I could lay claim to it, you could get more money and leave town before I'd notice."Leo shook his head."That, my old friend, is dangerous thinking.Manny, you're not the first to believe that, just for a few moments, that you were smarter than I was.It's an all-too-common mistake, made by many people before you.Do you want to know what sets you apart from all those other people right now, Manny?"

"Wh...what...?" he asked feebly.

Leo smiled."You're alive."

"Leo...!"

"You call him MISTER Daglione, pal!!" said one of the bruisers next to Leo, an ex-defensive linesman that went from pro-football to pro-bodyguard.

"Joseph, calm down.Manny is just about to tell me where his contact is, weren't you, Manny?"

"Sure!!Sure, Mister Daglione!"

"Please, Manny, call me Leo.We're friends, after all.Just tell me who the contact is, and I'll cut you down."Leo Daglione's voice never lost its smooth, purring appeal.

"The contact's in New York.He's a valet in the Hotel Regency, name of Roger Bolton!" Manny said quickly, sensing redemption and terra firma in his future."He's supposed to leave for Florida to meet the buyer in a week!"

"A week...plenty of time."Leo smiled a father's smile of pride."Thank you, Manny.I knew, in the end, I could trust you."

"No problem, Leo!Anything you say!!"Tears of relief made Manny blink.

"Of course.Now, Manny, before you go, there's something I'd like you to say for me."Leo walked up to the winch holding the rope.

"You say it, Leo, it's done!"

"I'm so happy to hear you say that.I wouldn't want you to go with anything less than a clean slate.Now, Manny, repeat after me."Leo brought up the knife again and placed it on the rope."Now I lay me down to sleep...I pray...Manny?You're not repeating after me, Manny," he said calmly, with the barest hint of sadness.

The reason why Manny wasn't echoing Leo was it was hard to recite when one is screaming at the top of his lungs in panic.

"Manny, for old times' sake...aren't you even listening?This is an old prayer, didn't your mother ever teach it to you?" he asked the wailing, flailing man disappointedly."Alright, I'll say it for you.Now I lay you down to sleep..."He slid the razor-sharp knife forward and nylon fibers parted, aided by Manny's struggling.

"...I pray the Lord your soul to keep...."

More fibers parted.

"...and if you die before you wake..."

The rope was now more than half-gone.

"...I pray the Lord your soul to take."

The rope parted and Manny dropped fifty floors, howling a high, woman's scream before the pavement silenced him forever.As he dropped, Leo looked over the side to watch him fall, a small, worried smile on his face.When he hit the ground, Leo didn't even flinch."Gentlemen, Manny has paid his dues and I have cut him down.Now that both our plans are settled, it is time to go."He walked towards the door to the roof, a spring in his step.

Today was such a beautiful day.Makes one happy to be alive, Leo thought arily and he brightened."Joseph, please charter the private jet and tell the pilot that we will be leaving for New York immediately.Tell him to have the plane ready by the time I reach the airport."

Roger paced the room, worried, as his girlfriend looked on."What's wrong, baby?" asked the vapid redhead.

"Lorraine, I was supposed to get a call from Manny last night.I ain't heard nothing from him..." He paced the apartment some more, looking at the phone from time to time.

"Maybe he's flyin' ovah."Lorraine got up and crossed the threadbare carpet to hold Roger."It's gonna be okay, baby."

"Lorraine, pack your stuff.We're going to get outta here.Something's wrong and I don't think it's safe to stay here."

"Where we goin'?"the redhead asked.

"Orlando, Florida.Come on, grab your stuff.I've gotta go get somethin' outta the bank.I'll meet you at the airport in an hour.Make reservations for the next flight out, for two.Put it on my credit card and HURRY."Roger left the apartment quickly and Lorraine worriedly went to the phone, calling up the airlines and writing down a time and flight number.

As she was packing her things, she heard a knock at the door._Not now...!The knock came stronger and she dropped the bag, striding quickly for the door.__If that's some salesman, I'm gonna KILL him if he makes me late!_

She opened the door to the limit of the chain and was forced back as the door was shoved open, ripping the chain out of the doorjamb.

It wasn't a salesman.

Lara blinked a couple times as this information settled in."Dave, this really is not the time for your sense of humor to-"

"I'm serious," David interrupted.He felt himself flushing red.This was not the best way to start this line of talk."Well, I guess...you know we get along, and I sorta thought that we might, you know, give it a trial run for once?I mean, if it didn't work out, we wouldn't have to stay with it at all, but I was figuring..."He stopped, suddenly unable to discern what it was he had been figuring.Not that he hadn't been wanting to ask her for weeks now, but he couldn't come up with any better reasoning than 'You are nice looking, and good at what you do.'And bringing up the first point didn't seem quite the way to introduce this partnership.He could feel the slight tugging of something between himself and Lara, but he didn't think he was ready to admit it yet, and he knew that Lara would never say so herself without him first coming out to her with the fact that he found her very beautiful, and of course, then what would happen if she laughed at him and decided to-

"HEY! Are you listening to me?"

David's train of thought derailed itself and he turned his attention back to Lara whom had decided to wobble her way out of the wheelchair."I'm sorry, momentary lapse of time.What did you say?"

_He's not paying attention to me, Lara thought.__This could be a problem..."I said, why don't we wait until after the vacation to decide that__?"Just to make absolutely certain that we make no snap judgments here, Lara told herself._

"Oh, right, right, of course," David said._Damn..."After Florida is fine by me, I just thought you might want to consider the possibility, that's all."_

"Alright.We can talk more on the plane.Right now, let's get me home, OK?"

"In the wheelchair," David insisted.

"David, wheelchairs are for people who are sick.I am fine.Take the rotten thing back to the hospital and then I'll drive us home."

David began to laugh."Oh, Lara!That's a rich one.You'll drive?Please.Sit back down and let me drive you for a while."

"I'm not a vehicle of some kind," Lara argued."You don't go around driving women unless you want to drive them mad, crazy, or up the walls." She staggered her way over to him."Besides, I'm in perfect physical shape."_Except for that damn pain in my ankle, she thought to herself.__But that's nothing.I can deal with that._

David lunged forward as her left leg gave out, and caught her before she hit the ground."Woah there, dear."He placed her back in the wheelchair."Now, we're going to go to a nice restaurant for some good old fashioned Cajun cooking, and then we will discuss this vacation and our partnership, and you will enjoy it."

"Keep your hands off of me," Lara murmured."You don't need to 'save' me everytime I fall.I'm quite used to falling by now."

"I should have let you hit the sidewalk then," David said in annoyance."That rear of yours is so well insulated you probably wouldn't have felt it."

"MY rear?!?" Lara shrilled."I could go on and on about some parts of you that aren't exactly perfect, David."

"Perhaps," David said."But then you couldn't eat at this fine restaurant we are about to enter."

"A restaurant??I don't want to eat with you!Let me out of this chair."

David pretended not to hear her.He liked her when she was in a good mood, but Lara Croft, he had to admit, was one of those people who were just naturally more lovable when upset a little."They serve the best escargot here, I'm certain you'll have a wonderful time."

"David, I don't eat snails," Lara argued.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you Brits don't like to eat anything that can outrun you," David tsked."Well, that's OK.They serve some very excellent rice here too, and-"

"I can outrun a bloody snail!" Lara snarled.In an attemptto prove this point, she started to get out of the chair, but fell back in again.

"Right now, I'm bettin' on the escargot," David snickered."Come on, Lara, I'm only teasing, and I know you're hungry.And besides, you can't go anywhere.So enjoy the pickings, eh?"

Lara made a huge, pouting frown, crossed her arms, and swore to herself in her brain over and over again._Dave--no, she corrected herself, __David, this** evil man-- was teasing her because she was in a bit of a pickle.Well, fine for him.He wasn't the one who got shot repeatedly trying to prevent Natla from regaining all her power.This was humiliating...So why do I really feel like laughing?It's not supposed to be funny...**_

"The Cock Of The Walk," Lara murmured as she read the sign over the restaurant's main doors."Somehow, it seems rather fitting."

"Oh, you're funny today.Being in pain must bring out the comedienne in you."David wheeled her up the ramp into the restaurant, both suddenly assaulted by some wonderful smells coming from inside.Spicy smells of meat and fish came billowing out at them and David smiled."Ahhhhhhh... nothing like the smell of Cajun food, is there?"

"I wouldn't know.Can't say I've ever tried it."_But if it smells like this, I may start._

An attractive older woman came to the foyer and smiled when she saw the two of them."David!_Comment ca va?"_

"_Ca va bien, merci beaucoup."He smiled."Lara Croft, meet Jeanette Boudreaux.She's the owner of this bastion of good taste amid the craziness of New York."_

"Croft?Not the archaeologist??"

"The same.Nice to meet you, Madame Boudreaux."

"_Certainement, the pleasure is all mine.Odette!Juli!__Vite, vite!!Table for two!"She turned back to David."Your class of dinner guest has improved greatly since we saw you last...you haven't come around in some time."_

"Yeah, well, I didn't want to impose upon your hospitality," David said, an odd tone in his voice.

"Don't worry about it, _mon ami.You're always welcome here."_

"Thanks."David and Lara were escorted to a table.

The blond, Odette, asked, "What would you like to order?"

Before Lara could ask for a menu, David said, "I'd like an order of your chicken and sausage jambalaya, with some hush puppies on the side.The lady will have your special House Gumbo, with lots of rice."

Odette nodded and walked off.Lara looked curiously at David."Gumbo?"

"You'll love it, trust me."

"Hmmmm...so tell me, Dave, what did you do that guaranteed you such service?"

"Jeanette has a son who ran with some bad kids...drugs, stuff like that.I found the kid, got him cleaned up and off the dope.He's probably raising hell in some boarding school somewhere as we speak."David dug into his salad."Anyway, Jeanette was low on funds, so I told her that instead of money, all I asked for was a free meal once a week and an open reservation anytime I wanted.She agreed readily."

"I can tell.You know, David, underneath all that pretense of lowlife-hood, you're actually a decent person."

"Yeah, well, don't tell anyone.It'd ruin my reputation."

Odette was quick in her service and soon, Lara had a bowl of thick brown soup in front of her and David was eating a rice dish loaded with chunks of chicken and sausage slices.Lara looked dubiously down at the concoction in front of her.

David smiled."Hey, Lara, what's eating you?"

Roger showed up at the airport in a big hurry.Pulling out a battered brown suitcase, he ran for the ticket counter and slid into line right behind a couple about to approach the counter.He bumped into them hard, knocking the man ahead of him down and dropping his suitcase.

David got up and grabbed his brown suitcase, turning to the man behind him."Hey, pal, watch where you're going!"

Roger considered telling this man off, but he saw the woman's face and recognized her from the hotel.Before she could recognize him, he grabbed his suitcase and turned, heading towards another ticket counter.Lara watched him leave."David...I've seen that man before...yes, he was the valet who..."

"Forget about him.We've got a plane to catch."He slung the suitcase up to the scale and frowned._I must be getting tired...my suitcase seems heavier._

"Yes, may I help you?"

"Two tickets to Orlando, Florida, on the next flight out.One way."Lara smiled."By the way, David, you were right.The gumbo was quite delicious."

Roger checked the suitcase, looking around in something of a panic.His girlfriend hadn't shown up yet and he was getting extremely nervous.He checked the bag at the ticket counter and bought a ticket to Orlando, Florida."The flight will be leaving in twenty minutes...if you hurry, you can catch it."

"Thanks!"Roger turned and hustled towards the gates.He got to his gate, A-7, and sat down in a chair.He looked around for Lorraine, but she wasn't there.

"Looking for your date?"

Roger spun around to see a dapper gentleman sitting next to him, smiling."What?"

"You must be Roger...Lorraine told us so much about you."

Roger tried to get up, but found the cold steel of a silencer in the back of his neck and sat back down.

"Please don't try to run.I'd hate to have Ricky here blow your head off.It would create such a _scene," he tut-tutted._

"Where's Lorraine?"

"I'm sorry, but she's not going to make it.However, she did have us bring you a message."He drew out a Walkman and a pair of headphones and put the earpieces in Roger's ears.He pressed PLAY and Lorraine's dying screams echoed in Roger's ears, bringing winces of mortal pain to his face.After forcing Roger to listen until the sounds faded, Leo calmly took the Walkman away and gave it to the other bodyguard, Gerome."She's going to be spending a great deal of time at the hospital, I'm afraid.But then, you'll be glad to know that she won't be in pain.Anymore."

"YOU BASTARD..." Roger hissed, then felt the silencer push against his head.

"Manny didn't tell you that there were others involved in all this?How naughty of him.But I will leave you in peace if you will give me your ticket.Now."

Roger helplessly handed over the ticket.

"Thank you.Ricky?"

Roger felt a jab in his rump and he opened his mouth to speak, but slumped in his chair before he could utter a sound.Ricky withdrew the needle and Leo sighed."Heart attack.So tragic in one so young.Well, life goes on, and so must we."They got up as a flight attendant came by on her way to the plane.

"Um, excuse me...but is that man alright?"

"Oh, he's fine.He's just decomposing after his flight."

"You mean decompressing, don't you?"

"Right."Leo and his men left Roger's body behind."Ricky, is the plane ready?"

"Yeah, Mr. Daglione."

"Good...because we have some luggage to retrieve.Let's go."

The flight was rather slow...some of the tourists hated the long ride down the East Coast.Lara and David, however, didn't notice.They had been talking over what they wanted to see at DisneyWorld, and sounded for all the world like a couple of teenagers trying to decide which ride to go on first.

"I dunno...I kinda like Space Mountain.I want to ride on that first; I've heard a great deal about it.Then we go to Universal Studios and..."

"Wait a sec.I want to go to Frontierland first, THEN Space Mountain, THEN the EPCOT Center...and maybe THEN we'll go to Universal Studios."

"You're such a little boy, David."Lara pouted."What's so great about Frontierland?"

"Well, they've got a great ride there called Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, plus a place called Fort Samuel Clemens, made up like a real log fort, with mock rifles and everything."David was unaware that his voice was getting a little excited."I've heard a lot about it.There's even a steamboat ride we can go on, not a rail-guided mockup, but a REAL paddleboat."

"Hmmm."Lara considered._A slow boat ride might be nice...wait a minute."David, how many other people go on this boat?"_

"As many as it'll safely carry, I guess."

_What's the fun in that??"Maybe we can check out some of the other rides."_

"Well, DisneyWorld's not just an amusement park.There are beaches, restaurants, even golf courses."

"Elitist sport. I've heard that only now are golfers like Tiger Woods are able to play in the pro circuit." Lara sniffed.

"Lara, you're changing the subject."

"Female's Prerogative."

"ANYWAY...we don't have to spend all our time at the rides.We can hang out at the beach, grab some rays...did you bring a swimsuit?"

"Just wait and see, Dave."

David suddenly felt a need to shift in his seat."Ahem...well...uh, what was I saying before?"

"You were just at 'hang out at the beach,' I believe," Lara said, highly amused.

"Right...they've got some great restaurants, too.There's even a hotel where the monorail goes right through, take you right to the EPCOT Center and DisneyWorld."

"I know.I reserved us a room there."

"Oh."

"Alright, Frontierland first...THEN we go to Universal Studios."Lara went on, noting with a smile that he wasn't going any further into the details of the room she had reserved._He'd better not make any assumptions...it's got two beds.Should things go well, one of those beds might go unused.We'll see._

Lara and David got off the plane in Orlando, all smiles.Both were equally excited about their vacation, since it was the first one David had had in years, and Lara was starting to feel enthusiastic about spending some downtime with David.A little wine, a little excitement, a little dancing...all that and Goofy, too!Lara was finding it more and more difficult to restrain herself from giggling.

David, himself, was having a good time, the first he'd had since his wife died.At first, he felt guilty when he realized what he was doing...but somehow knew that his wife would've wanted him to get on with his life.It never occurred to him that Kathy would've also forgiven him, and that ignorance let guilt lay cold and black deep in his heart.

But for now...he could forget being David Connors for a while.

They got to the baggage carousel and waited for their luggage to arrive.David pulled out Lara's, then saw his coming around the end and started to pull it from the carousel when someone else tried to get it at the same time.

David looked up to see a big bruiser yanking at the handle."Hey, pal!This is MY bag!"

The suited gorilla tried to get it away, but David was no lightweight, either.Before something more serious and physical could break out, a man in an expensive suit walked up and looked at the hulk."For shame, Joseph.Let us identify the luggage, at the very least."He pulled out a ticket and checked the claim stub."Joseph, that is not ours.Kindly let the man go."

"Yeah, before he does something Joseph wouldn't like at all," David snarled.

Joseph released both the suitcase and David's arm.The man shook his head."My apologies for my associate's rude behavior."

"Forget it."David grabbed his suitcase."Come on, Lara, let's go."They walked off and Leo watched them go, then turned to Joseph. 

"Let us remember that we're trying to keep a low profile, Joseph.I will be quite cross with you if you embarrass me again."Leo looked and saw another brown suitcase come towards them on the carousel and picked it up, matching the ticket and smiling."See. HERE is ours.Now let's go."

"Who was that asshole?" David thought aloud.

"Who cares?We've got a mouse to meet."Lara grinned as they grabbed a cab to the DisneyWorld Hotel."And for once, no death-defying adventures."

"It's NOT HERE."Leo Daglione looked around at his men."Did any of you open this before I could?"

"No, Mr. Daglione.I had it the whole time and nobody else touched it."Ricky was getting a little nervous.

"Well, Ricky, if you say it, I believe it." _Besides, you're too stupid to come up with this idea on your own."The point of the matter, gentlemen, is that the diamond is not here."_

"Where'd it go?"

Leo turned to the speaker."If I knew that, Joseph, I would not be asking any of you, would I?Hmmm..."He looked through the suitcase, finding some clothes, a few magazines and some notes.He held up one of the shirts."A little large for a little rodent like Roger." he mused."In fact...it looks more like the size of the gentleman we met at the baggage claim...and his suitcase looked a great deal like this one."Leo's voice rose a few degrees and Joseph gulped.Though Leo Daglione was not the sort to outwardly show extremes of temper, he could be just as dangerous, since his decisions to kill and destroy were made with cold calculations, not hot rage."Joseph, I may have been too hasty with you earlier today.That man does indeed have OUR suitcase, and it will only be a matter of time before he opens it and finds that my diamond is there.Gentlemen, the time is now 8:20 a.m.We must find this man before he unpacks for the night."

"What do we do, boss?"

Leo took out the notes."'From the desk of David Connors.'Our first big clue.Contact every hotel in Orlando...find David Connors."

"Mr. Daglione, there must be over a hundred hotels..."

Leo looked at Joseph and the thug's voice trailed off in fear."Then you'd better get some help and start NOW, shouldn't you??Judging from his clothing, he's not too well-off, so start at the low end and work your way up.Don't fail me, Joseph.You know what happens when people fail me...they become useless to me.If you're useless to me..."

Joseph recalled his predecessor.They were still scraping him up off Hollywood Boulevard."I'll get right on it, Mr. Daglione."

"DO that."

"Just in time."David threw the brown suitcase on the bed and looked out the window."The park should be opening in a few minutes.Want to grab some Z's before we hit the resort?"

"Are you kidding, Dave?"Lara was grinning widely."I couldn't sleep if I tried.I feel like a child on Christmas Eve."

David walked over to her and leaned over, kissing her warmly.His arms folded around her and she responded in kind, holding him close.After a few minutes, their lips parted and David looked down at Lara."I'm glad you're here with me, Lara."

"I'm glad, too...in fact, only one thing would make this perfect."

"What?"

Lara looked down at her foot cast."I wish my blasted foot would stop bothering me."

"Feel like walking?"

"I don't know if I'm going to be up for jogging, but I can handle walking.ANYTHING to keep from sitting in some bloody wheelchair."

"Ready to go hit DisneyWorld?"

"I've been ready for this for a long time," Lara said, not entirely talking about the vacation."Let's go."

It was, to say the least, a wonderful time.

Lara and David felt like kids, wandering through the park and going on the attractions.Her foot cast was slim enough to hide under a boot Lara had bought at a store, just for the occasion."If you think some silly fiberglass is going to keep me in my hotel room, you're mistaken," she told David, who had no choice but to agree.

The rides and other attractions proved wondrous.From 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea to the Mission To Mars ride, and everything in between, they saw it all as a great adventure, putting aside for the moment how their lives made the rides look like card games in comparison.The EPCOT Center was a thrill and a half, with David having fun checking out the gadgets and games in the pavilions and Lara noting some of the more aesthetically-attractive exhibits.She enjoyed the Living Seas and the World Of Motion.David liked the World Showcase and the World Of Imagination pavilion.

At lunch, they went to the American Adventure and grabbed some hamburgers and fries, looking out over the giant lake that separated the World Showcase from the EPCOT Center proper.David looked at Lara."So, having fun?"

The proprietor of the Contemporary Resort, the hotel overlooking Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake, glanced up from his paperwork at the front desk as the three business-suited men opened the doors.He noticed they had no luggage with them, which seemed odd; very few people checked into a hotel without their baggage, but other than that, they seemed fine.

The men made their way past a rather-surprised porter and stopped at the counter."Can I help you gentlemen?" the owner asked.

"Man, I hope so," the first man said."Uh, we're from outta town.We came to see David Connors."The man laughed a small, quick, nervous giggle."Um, our business meeting we had scheduled just got bumped up a day, and our boss sent us down here to contact him so we could change a few things.Do you know if he's around?"

_Oh, that explained it.Business partners.They were probably put up in another hotel somewhere.Few companies wanted to put their employees up in a hotel so close to Walt Disney World.The manager smiled."Gee guys, I wish I could help you.No, I don't think Mr. Connors is around right now."He shuffled through his papers now as he spoke."Yeah, he and his wife left this morning for Disney World, as I recall.Darla said she saw them leave real early this morning.I imagine he's there right now.I almost hate to tell you where he is though, since I'm sure this meeting is gonna dampen his spirits a bit."_

_Buddy, you have no idea what this meeting is gonna do to Mr. Connors, the first man thought.But he smiled."Well, shoot.Hey, do you think you could show us to his room so we can leave him a note or something?"_

"I'm afraid we only allow registered guests into the actual resort," the manager said."But if you want to leave him a message here at the desk, I'll make certain that he gets it the moment he walks in the door."

"Nah, that's OK," the second man said."We'll catch up to him at the park.Have a nice day, now.Sorry to bother you."

The manager waved to them."You do the same!" he called.

The first man stopped in the doorway and turned."Oh, one last thing," he asked the owner.

"Yeah?" the manager asked.

"You said his wife was with him, right?"

"Yes.Well, at least, I assume it was his wife.I mean, the reservations were made for a Mr. and Mrs. David Connors..."

The man paused to consider this information._Probably contemplating whether to pull Mr. Conner's wife away from a vacation, the manager thought.Then he smiled."OK.Well hey, thanks for all your help!"He pushed the door open and walked out into the street._

The manager felt sort of sorry for David Connors."Wouldn't want to be in that man's shoes right now," he murmured out loud."Poor guy's vacation gets interrupted for a stupid business meeting.Of course," he added as an afterthought, "wouldn't mind having that babe of a wife he's got though."Several minutes later, however, he was buried in his work again, and had forgotten all about the conversation completely.

Chad Parker sat in the small kiosk with a sign reading, "SECURITY" posted above the window.To say that he was bored was an understatement._This is a joke, really.Whoever heard of EPCOT Center needing a security station?Nobody ever did anything interesting here.Not like King's Island, where somebody held a group of people hostage just to get on the King Cobra, then turned himself in afterwards.Not like Astroworld out in Houston, where that axe-murderer had hidden out for months under the now-nonexistent funhouse to emerge at night and kill a couple of the migrant workers who did clean-up.No, compared to those places, EPCOT was boring._

_Oh sure, he thought, __the first time, you're in awe.Maybe even the second or third time.But after that?EPCOT was a joke.It was a reality that could never happen.Everybody was too damn happy, too damn proud.Those nine cultures they had here?Whoopdee-fucking-do.The tourists came there, and they ooh-ed and ahh-ed over it, then went right back to their own country, mostly America, although there were a fair bit of Japanese tourists nowadays, and promptly forgot all about "brotherly love for the other nations."Even the name EPCOT was a joke.Most people thought EPCOT was simply a nonsense word old Disney had come up with on his deathbed or something.Almost nobody, unless you worked for the park and had to go through the "hype-sessions" as they were called, knew it was an acronym.They ground the damn thing into your brain.You weren't allowed to think of it as EPCOT Center.Oh no.This was the "_E_xperimental _P_rototype _C_ommunity _O_f_T_omorrow."Another stupid legacy, a stupid ideal, that could never be lived up to._

But it paid the bills.And right now, with a new wife and a baby on the way, Chad Parker needed every cent he could get.And Disney paid pretty well.He wasn't much out of college when they hired him, but several other security personnel had quit their jobs, and Disney was desperate.So they got him.

It was all a joke.All he did was hear complaints, and even those came infrequently.Every so often, maybe once or twice a month, somebody would get a purse snatched or a wallet stolen and report it._Big deal.Nothing exciting about that.Hell, you could have that happen to you wherever you went._

He picked up the book he had been reading for the last few hours, but then put it down in annoyance.One thing he had gotten a lot more of done this year was reading.Almost two novels a day, sometimes three if they were particularly short or real page-turners.This particular book happened to be an action and adventure story, and it had just gotten to the point where the John Wayne wannabe got to screw his leading lady because he saved her life.He knew people read books to escape, but how likely was it that a woman, who was about to be raped by a bunch of hoodlums and gets rescued by "Gary Stratmouth" is just gonna look this guy in the eye and say, "Thanks for saving me.Let's go back to my house and fuck, OK?"Fiction, for all it was, could be full of an awful lot of bullshit.

Not to mention the fact that the scene reminded him of the other day when the woman, well, girl actually, he told himself, who wore the Minnie Mouse costume had brushed him off._Ah well, no big deal.Rumor had it that she was banging Donald Duck on the side anyway.And used goods weren't the best goods, that was for sure._

He turned back to his book and managed to get through the next few sentences when a shadow fell across the text.Chad looked up to see a man standing at the window of his kiosk.A large man.

"Can I help you, sir?" he asked, trying to make it sound like he really wanted to help the man.Then he noticed the gun in the holster at the man's side."Um, I'm sorry, sir, but no firearms are allowed in the park.Security regulation, you know, unless you're FBI or-"

There was a crashing, splintering sound from the back door as someone kicked it open, and Chad felt the press of the cold steel barrel of the weapon as it gently touched his back.

The man outside the window didn't seem to show any emotions through the sunglasses he wore."Well, Chad," he said, reading the man's nametag and tsking, "I'm very sorry, but I have to break your security regulations.You see, you just looked so bored in there that I thought we should break the rules a little bit.Cooperate, and you'll be fine.Screw with us, and well..."

The person with the gun behind him cocked the hammer into place, a sound that was painfully loud in the small kiosk, and especially so close to Chad.

Chad tried to nod, but found he couldn't.He kept praying that someone would come up to the booth that needed help.But as it was, the man's massive frame blocked most of the window.Nobody outside could see him, or the person with the gun against his head."W-w-what do you w-w-want?" he asked, starting to stutter.

The man reached down, and Chad was certain he was pulling his gun, but instead came out with a passport.He opened it slowly and casually, and Chad thought he was going to burst with fear.Finally, the man placed the passport, open to the picture, on the ledge and slid it into the booth.Chad stared at the picture and the name, not comprehending anything."What is this?"

"Have you seen this man before?" the man asked.

"Um...well, I dunno.I mean, I see lots of people here in this booth, you know, I mean, he coulda walked by me and I saw him, but I don't-"

"A simple yes or no will suffice," the man interrupted.The tone of his voice was calm, but Chad could tell he was clearly annoyed.

"Well then...no, I...I guess I haven't seen him."

"That's not good, Chad," the man lilted."Not good at all."He put his face closer to the window."How many other security stations are there here at EPCOT?"

"Um...twelve total in the park, I think," Chad said, sweat pouring down his back.He had to scratch, it was itching so badly, but he didn't dare move.

"Wrong, Chad," the man said."There are no other security stations in EPCOT."

"Our friends have taken care of that little problem," the man behind him said.

"This is the last one, Chad.The last station.How does that make you feel, Chad?"

"Ve-very bad," Chad replied."You can't screw with Disney World, you know.They'll hunt you down for this.They won't like the negative publicity."

"Oh, believe me, Chad.Nobody will ever know about this.My friends are already filling in the jobs.And tomorrow, every security guard in this park will have turned in his or her resignation.Including you, Chad, I'm afraid."

"No, I need the job, I've got a family..."Chad began to blubber, refusing to accept the idea that was slowly creeping into his mind.

"Chad, Chad," the man chided."Your family will be well off.I know they give you Disney employees excellent insurance coverage."

The silencer-tipped gun fired, and Chad barely felt the bullet pierce his heart as he fell to the floor and felt the darkness engulf him forever.

The man inside the kiosk pulled a radio from the inside of his jacket."Alright, we just got the last one.Everyone move into positions.No more security, no more hassles.Find David Connors and his wife, then take 'em to Leo.He'll handle things from there.And remember: we need them alive.Leo wants that diamond back."

Lara and David, holding hands, and looking for all the world like two teenagers having just walked out of their first NC-17 movie, exited the "Universe of Energy" attraction.

"You realize that I can't take you anywhere," David commented.

"Huh?" Lara asked, not understanding.

"Your behavior in there," David nodded back towards the building."There is nobody else in this world who points a gun at an animatronic T-Rex," he grinned.

"Well excuse me," Lara replied."Dinosaurs, however fascinating, happen to make me rather nervous, alright?"

David placed a condescending hand on her shoulder."Lara...why?They've been dead for over 65 million years.I doubt you have anything to worry about."He chuckled lightly.

The look Lara gave him could have opened a clam shell at fifty feet."Don't be too sure, David."

_Uh-oh, David thought.__She used my full name...I'm in trouble."Uh...right.Sorry."_

"Apology accepted."She turned to the man holding the last exit door for them."Thank you for coming!Hope you enjoyed the ride," the doorman smiled.

The individual watching the exit snapped his head up and blinked his eyes._Yup, no doubt about it.Those were the Connors Leo had talked about.The David guy was unmistakable.The woman with him had to be his wife.Nobody else would have fallen for a guy who wore clothes like that._He grabbed his radio and nonchalantly brought it up to his mouth."Gidion, this is Laylor.Our pals just left the 'Universe of Energy.'"

"I hear you," the radio crackled back."Remember, take the man alive.Nobody cares about the woman, just get David Connors."

"Check," Laylor said, turning off the radio.He moved towards the happy couple who had stopped to chat with the man at the exit.

"This is actually the most popular attraction here at EPCOT center," the exit man was saying."The children love the dinosaurs, so they drag their parents through here two or three times."

The three of them shared a laugh at this.David, still smiling, looked up to see the man walking towards them.Recognition hit like an arrow, and, suddenly completely serious, he grabbed Lara's arm and ran through the still-open door, yanking it out of the man's fingers as he did so.

"David, what the hell are you-?"

"Shut up and just run," David ordered, dragging her behind him."I just saw something rather unpleasant looking."

The doorman looked up in surprise as the pair dashed back through the exit."Hey, wait a minute!You can't go in that way!Go back to the front!"He felt the door slip out of his fingers and clicked shut."Aw, hell.God damn stupid..."He reached into his pocket and removed the keyring.

The gun and arm that stuffed themselves into his nose made him freeze.

"Open the door," Laylor ordered.

The doorman nodded slowly, and shakily resumed pulling out the keys._Where the hell was security when you needed them?Why was this happening to him?He tugged at the ring, and had ahold of the proper key when the loop snagged on his pants, causing him to drop it on the ground.A soft tinkling accompanied it._

Reacting on instinct, Laylor fired the gun into the doorman's back, the silencer muffling the muzzle shot, and the bullet split the man's heart, blowing out the front of his chest and imbedding itself in the wall.The doorman stood for a moment, then his eyes glazed over, and he fell to the cement with a sickening plop.

Spying the key the man had been going for, Laylor grabbed the ring up off the ground, stabbing the metal object into the lock.He twisted it, heard and felt the tumblers give way, and hurled the door open before charging into the darkened area.

Huddled down behind a large mechanical sauropod that was currently inactive due to the fact that no visitors were in the area as of yet, Lara and David talked in hushed whispers.

"David, what the hell got into you?" Lara hissed.

"The man who was coming after us," David replied."I know who he is."

"What man?"

"The large Hawaiian guy with the dark glasses wearing the business suit and carrying the gun on the inside shoulder harness, that's who," David replied."Johnny Laylor.Full time criminal, and has the brains to make it possible.I took his former boss on a ride down a ski slope in Switzerland one time.I stopped at the edge of the cliff.Pity he didn't."David shrugged, but Lara could hardly see in the dark."Wonder who he's working for this time, and what this is all about?"

"I don't know," Lara snarled, "but if you don't cut out all this running, my ankle is going to burst!"

"I wouldn't worry.I locked the door behind us."

From down the corridor came the sounds of the track gears starting up.Somebody was taking the next car through the ride.

"Let's go," David suggested."Before he radios somebody and tells them we're trapped in here."

Lara nodded and slowly got to her feet.She started to pull the pistol back out of her leg holster.

"I assure you, Mrs. Connors, that won't be necessary."The click of the trigger in the large room was almost lost to the space, but the two heard every nuance.They also heard the car approaching.They were probably through the dry ice by now and-

"Lay down on the floor, both of you," Laylor ordered."The doorman was nice enough to let me in.Pity; the man seemed to have a heart problem shortly after he showed me the proper key."

"Laylor," David hissed."She's not my wife.Let her go.It's me you want."

"Oh, touching," Laylor crooned."Quite touching.But sadly, I can't do that.You see, my boss wants you alive, David.And as for her, well..."The gun tilted in Lara's direction."He wasn't so specific concerning your fate, my little _wahine_."

David heard the snapping of the dinosaurs as they started moving.The car would be in here any moment.He watched the head of one of the large sauropods as it ducked down towards the fake foliage."Johnny, you know what I like about you?" David asked.

"No, what?" Laylor asked.

"You're tall," David said.

As the car swung through into the room, one hundred pounds ofsauropod head slammed into Laylor's, knocking him to the floor.His gun fell into the patch of foliage that the dinosaur was supposed to eat, and the large robot picked it up in its jaws, chewed lazily to the delight of the vacationers there, and swallowed it.

The car passed through the blanket of dry ice and into the next area.Lara and David got to their feet."What the hell is making everyone so keen on getting you today?" Lara asked.

"I wish to hell I knew," David muttered."Come on, let's get out of here before John-boy there starts to be missed by his friends."They jumped down onto the track and made their way to the side exit door they had taken before.

"David...this is not my idea of a vacation."Lara looked around the corner of the World of Motion."I would enjoy this more if my ankle weren't hurt."

"Nag, nag, nag."He looked down at where her leg holster was hiding just under the hem of her skirt."Do you bring a gun with you EVERYWHERE?"

"You don't?"Lara asked with equal surprise.

"Alright...Lara, stay here, I'm going to do a little recon.Stay outta sight."

"What if those bruiser's friends come by?"

"You heard Laylor.They're looking for me, not you.You're probably safer not being with me right now."

Before Lara could respond, David had already sprinted off.She sighed in exasperation and limped over to a bench to wait.

David checked out the area carefully and found that EPCOT was under siege.

The security stations, instead of being staffed by friendly, young men and women, were populated by thugs all bearing the same trademarks as Laylor.Big, strong and well-armed._Uncle Walt is NOT going to like this... David thought as he checked the stations and found every single one manned by a gun-toting psychopath.__Great.Just great.Walt Disney World is probably also staffed by these sides of beef.How do we get out of here without becoming a moving target and endangering the other patrons...and, more importantly, why have I suddenly become so damn popular?_

He made his way back to where Lara was waiting.As he did, he passed by the monorail station and looked at it carefully.There was a pretty young thing at the window just before the depot.

David's mind went into overdrive.Thinking furiously, he raced back to where Lara was waiting.

Lara saw David walking back and smiled in relief; worrying about him had kept her on edge the entire time."What took you so long?"

"We've got to go back to Disney World.I think I know how we can get out of here.What time is it?"

"It's getting late...it's almost eight o'clock."

"Perfect.We may have just enough time."

"Time for what?"

David grinned."Ever wanted to go into show biz?"

"No.I categorically REFUSE."Lara looked at the costume of Meg for the new Disney movie, HERCULES."I am not getting into that costume!"

"These are the only two places we could get.They're looking for two tourists, not two attractions.When the Light Parade goes through Disney World, it has to go past one of the exit fences.We go over the fence at the end of the parade and we're out."David looked at himself in the Hercules outfit, looking a little sheepish."Count your blessings."

"At least you look like you'll fit the role."_Does he EVER, Lara added mentally, looking at the armor showing off David's build, then killed that thought.__Now is not the time for that..._

"We don't have a choice.If we try to exit any other way, we'll face armed lunatics with machine-guns."

"Happens to me all the time," Lara quipped, moving to another part of the fitting room hidden by some lockers.

"Yeah?Then try it.Where do you want the flowers sent?" David said, irritated.

"Alright, I concede defeat for now."Lara sighed."That jump isn't going to be easy with this ankle."

"I'll jump first and I'll catch you.Any further questions?"

"Yes."Lara came out in the Grecian gown and smiled. "How do I look?"

David shook his head."I hope Disney will forgive me if I decide that we should keep the gown."

"In your dreams, Dave."

"Alright...let's bolt."

The parade was something else.

Lara was glad that she had seen the trailers for the movie and managed to get down Meg's trademark "salute" in time for the event.She hoped that the two actors that were originally slated for the roles wouldn't have too much of a headache when they woke up.As she smiled and waved, saluting from time to time, she saw David flexing his muscles and trying to look as heroic as possible.She giggled, watching his posturings for the crowd._I only WISH I could get pictures of this..._

David, for his part, was feeling as embarrassed as hell.He had never considered how powerful stage fright could be; he wasn't sure if he'd feel better facing down the armed thugs instead.But he knew that if he broke and ran, he'd attract far more attention than he could believe possible.He tried not to look into the sky, to keep the helicopter cams from placing his face on TV, and the lights from the Pegasus float were too bright for him to be recognized from street level.

So all he did was concentrate on playing the part of the big, muscle-bound "farmboy" from an animated movie and hope that he didn't get killed.

Finally, after what seemed like an agonizingly SLOW parade, the floats continued around the side of Main Street USA and David saw their chance.He took off across the right wing of Pegasus, feeling the wing give under his weight, and leaped at the last second over the barbed-wire fence to land heavily on the ground outside, much to the astonishment of a few tourists that were leaving the park on that side.He got to his feet and turned."Lara!!Down here!!"

Lara Croft/Meg looked over the side of the fence and caught a glimpse of Hercules' copper armor through the foliage that surrounded the park.She braced herself, then took off and leaped from the float, barely missing the metal barbs and fell right into David's/Hercules' arms.

She recovered and looked at David."Nice catch...Herc."

David's reply was silenced by the applause of the tourists out in the parking lot as they cheered, thinking it was just another bit of Disney magic.David set Lara down carefully and they looked at each other, then both shrugged and bowed for the tourists, who applauded even louder.

"Well, that was fun, wasn't it?"David said brightly as they entered their room, still dressed as Hercules and Meg.They had taken the kitchen entrance, playing the part of surprising a family who had asked to meet Hercules and Meg in their hotel room.The staff had even helped, taking them up in the service elevator and making sure that the halls were clear before Hercules and Meg could safely navigate them.

"Apart from the threat of people trying to kill us?"Lara went to her suitcase and opened it."God, I can't wait to get out of this get-up."

"I'm with you."Mildly disappointed that Lara wasn't keeping the garment after all, he shed the breastplate and headband and opened up his suitcase, reaching in and pulling out a shirt...only to find that it was far too small."What the hell??"

"What?" Lara asked from the bathroom.

"Lara, does housekeeping wash clothes as well?"

"I don't think so, why?"

"Because my clothes got way too small or I grew a few sizes when I wasn't looking."Lara came out as he took the shirt off."Hey, I don't own a shirt like this!'Chicago Cubs'??Give me a break."

Lara took a look inside the suitcase."And I don't think you own these," she said with distaste.

David looked down to see several kiddy porn magazines.He picked them up the same way someone would pick up a dead rat by the tail and brought them over to the paper shredder by the desk., dropping them in.She wiped his hands together as if something from the magazines had crawled onto his hands.

"No, obviously not yours.David, you have someone else's suitcase."

"Someone else....holy hell!That guy in New York, the one who bumped into us!We must've gotten our suitcases mixed up before checking them in!Jeez!!"He looked around in muted rage."How the hell am I going to get something to wear now?"

"I think you have larger concerns at the moment.Think about it...those men started chasing us at what point?"

David sobered, understanding dawning in his eyes."At the start of this whole mess, er, vacation.There's something about this suitcase that these guys want to kill for and have already.Lara, check it out.I'm going to see if the store downstairs is open and see if I can't order some clothes sent up."David went to the phone."Hello, Front Desk?"

As David talked, Lara searched through the clothing.After going through some of the clothes, she picked up a balled-up pair of socks that was unnaturally large...and heavy."David?"

David put the phone back in its cradle."I've got some clothes coming up.Anything?"

"You could say that."Lara tossed him the ball of fabric."What do you think?"

David unwrapped the socks.Something within caught the light from around the room and seemed to absorb it, then throw it out in a dazzling display of prismatic colors."I think our lives just got a whole lot more complicated...!!!"

"The Eye of Shiva!"Lara breathed, looking at in awe.

"The what of what??"David asked.

"The Eye of Shiva was a powerful gem, part of a duo that was part of a long-forgotten cult.They believed that the two gems were the original eyes of the god Shiva, the god of destruction.According to the legends surrounding them," Lara said, stepping closer, "they had great powers by themselves, but if brought together and placed in a gigantic statue of Shiva, the god would be brought back to life.Some say that the god would be under the control of the one who performed the ritual that resurrected him, others say that the god would try to find Kali and resume their ages-long fight, or marry each other.There are so many legends and so many different ideas."

"How can you be sure this is one of those Eyes?"

Lara picked up the gem and closed her eyes, mumbling something in Hindu.A blue fire surrounded her, moving out from the gem and enveloping her.The blue glow turned red once it reached down to her injured ankle, then the angry glow turned to a soft blue in a matter of seconds.When the aura around her was a uniform blue, she opened her eyes and looked down at her ankle.She raised her foot and stomped hard five times, then smiled."I'd say that's proof enough, wouldn't you?"

David gaped, then heard a knock at the door.He quietly went to the door and asked, "Who is it?"

"Room service!You called about some clothes?" called a young woman's voice from the other side of the door.

David opened it and he smiled, taking the clothes."Charge it to the room, alright?"

"Certainly, sir.Will there be anything else?"

"No, thanks.Good night."David closed the door and took the clothes into the bathroom, closing the door.

"Need some help, David?"Lara asked mischievously.

"No thanks," he said reluctantly, getting dressed in jeans and a Mickey Mouse T-shirt, putting on Reeboks crosstrainers and a leather belt.He walked out and sat down on the bed with a sigh."Now what?"

"Now, we need to make a trip to Calcutta."

"Please tell me that you mean Calcutta, Texas," David said hopefully.

"Afraid not, Dave."

"Ah, come ON!" David protested, "We had a deal!No adventures, no tomb raiding, just relaxing!"

"Dave, be sensible.Those people that went to so much trouble to get to us tonight...they were after this."Lara held up the Eye."Do you really think they'll give up, or even if we did find them again willingly, that they'd just say, 'Sorry for bothering your vacation.We'll just take the gem and say bu-bye, and by the way, here's an additional thousand dollars to use at the souvenir shops'?"

"No, I guess not..." Dave groused."It's just that..."His voice trailed off and he sighed."I'll get packed...wait a minute, what am I talking about, none of this is my stuff...!"

"Just that what, Dave?"

David looked at Lara squarely."It's just that I've been waiting for a long time to have some time alone with you that didn't involve us getting shot at, blown up or fed to something.Now that it happened, for one day, I actually felt like someone normal, someone with..."_with someone he loved, he finished in his brain."And now we've got to go into this stuff again.Far off countries, no place to rest and enjoy ourselves and if our luck remains the same, this is NOT going to be a 'walk in the park', not unless the park in question is the Amazon."He got off the bed and grabbed his room key."I'm heading downstairs, to make sure someone isn't staking out our rental.Back in a few."_

Lara watched him try to slam the door closed, but the door was equipped with a hydraulic decelerator, so all he did was jerk the doorknob out of his hand and stomp off as the door gently closed.Lara watched the door a moment longer, then went to pack up, feeling none too enthusiastic herself about having to leave.The thought of finding the other Eye, as well as Shiva's lost temple, excited her on a professional level, but Lara was even less happy about the idea of leaving than David was.She was really starting to enjoy spending time with David, not to mention that she, too, liked the idea of feeling like a normal person.

_Whoever did this is going to pay DEARLY for ruining this vacation....! she thought as she went down to meet David._

She arrived at the lobby to find that David was in the process of making someone pay.

At this time of night, the lobby was nearly empty, so there was no sign that anything was wrong until she saw the man fly into her elevator car with a CRASH.Lara quickly stepped out, reached around and hit the top floor button before the stunned thug could react.She turned back to find that David was giving another bruiser something to think about.

David moved like a boxer, weaving left and right while the thug was trying to use some sort of kung fu martial art to strike David.He was far too quick, though, and he leaned in and gave the thug a beating like Lara had never seen.David's fists moved lightning-quick, getting past the Bruce-Lee-wannabe's defenses easily.Lara saw David punching with what seemed like quick, short jabs, but each time that David struck, the thug looked like he had been hit by an oncoming truck!

One last right cross and Lara winced just looking at the contact.The thug dropped like a dirty shirt and David looked towards Lara."We've been made, Lara.We've gotta go now!"

Lara said nothing, running towards the door.David joined her at the door and they stopped as they saw an idling black Lotus Esprit right in front of them.Lara grinned as she went to the driver's side door, opening it and looking inside."My, with the motor running.These worthies were just inviting theft, weren't they?"

"Toss your bag into the back and let's get going!"David said from the passenger's side.Lara popped the trunk and tossed the bag in, then turned back to see David sliding behind the wheel.

"Da-VID!"Lara barked.

"Just get in!"

"It was my turn to drive!" Lara said indignantly, running around to the shotgun seat.

"Can we discuss it later?"David asked.

"Yes...and I can't WAIT," Lara said dangerously.

David took one look at her face and turned back towards the road._Maybe I was better off with those thugs trying to kill me...! he thought as he popped the clutch and burned rubber out of the parking lot.___


	5. The Eyes Of Shiva, Part Two: Planes, Pai

**The Eyes Of Shiva, Part II:**

**Planes, Pains and Automobiles******

# By C. Mage and Sarah Crisman

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Lara felt much better once they got out on the open road.As she watched the night sky through the window, she asked no one at all, "How do we get into these messes?"

"Beats me, Lara.I'm beginning to think we violated the Laws of Circumstance somehow when we got together."David checked the rearview mirror again, but there were no cars behind them with any particularly suspicious quirks...like, for instance, driving at fifty mph over the speed limit."But you'll have to admit, Lara...you wouldn't like it if life we're so boring."

Lara's eyes moved up slightly."I certainly hope you enjoy that sort of thing as well, Dave."

"Well..."He stopped."Why do you say that?"

"Because unless I miss my guess, any chances of the two of us having a boring trip to the airport just took flight."She pointed and David looked up to see a Bell 500 helicopter coming towards them.

"Please tell me that's a traffic report chopper," David said in a glum voice.

Lara looked closer."Not unless competition for the news has gotten more blatant.That helicopter has a pair of machine-guns mounted on its sides."She reached into the back seat and came out with her trademark .45s."I don't suppose you have a plan?"

"Yeah."

"Well?"

"We're going to go _really_ fast!"he yelped as he saw the helicopter open fire.

"There they are!"Durant lowered the Starlight scope and turned to the pilot."Mr. Daglione wants those two stopped, no matter what."

"They're gonna be police all over us if we start shooting now," the pilot warned.

Durant drew a pistol and shoved it into the pilot's neck."Mr. Daglione's orders.Start the shooting out there, or there's gonna be some shooting in here."

The pilot nodded, then dove, closing in on the car.He squeezed off a long round and the twin .50 caliber machine-guns made the helicopter shudder.

David slammed on the gas and the car shot under the sprays of lead.Lara pulled back the hammers of the .45s and rolled down the passenger window.She popped off a series of rounds and was rewarded with flashes of contact off the helicopter's chassis."Damn!Our adversary's moving too fast and it's too dark!I can't get a fix on him!"

David saw a lighted sign and smiled."Lara, can you keep them busy for a while?"

"Can do!Why??" she yelled back over the roar of the car's engine.

"I've got a plan!" David yelled in return."Get in here!"

Lara faced forward and her eyes widened as she saw a series of signs coming up.She pulled herself back inside as the temporary signs whipped along side both sides of the car, causing sparks to fly as the edges scraped along the car's finish.David turned to his left.

The sideview mirror showed the helicopter closing in on him, guns blazing away, just over the etched legend, "OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR."He swerved as best he could, feeling loud THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPs as the bullets connected."Lara!"

"I'm alright, none of the bullets came through."She looked at the windows, searching along the bottom until she found the words she was looking for."According to this, the car's chassis and windows are bullet-resistant."

"Bullet-_resistant_?Whatever happened to bullet_proof_?"

Lara looked ahead as he saw the DETOUR sign and the TUNNEL UNDER CONSTRUCTION sign."Hard right coming up, David!"

"I know."

Lara's eyes turned to focus on him.The look on his face brought a tinge of fear to Lara's mind."David...please, in God's name, TELL me you're not thinking what I hope you're not thinking!"

"Hang on to your lunchpails, Lara, this is going to get a little risky."David started to take the offramp.

"What are you waiting for??KILL this asshole!"

"Hey, hey!" the pilot retorted, too angry to consider Durant's threat."You wanna drive?I'll get him just as soon as he hits the traffic at the end of the offramp.He's got nowhere to go!"

Durant looked and swore as the car drove THROUGH the sawhorses blocking the entrance to the tunnel. "SONUVA...!!"

"Now what?"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK?!" Durant yelled back."AFTER HIM!"

"The helicopter won't fit in there!!!"

Durant pulled the hammer back on his pistol._I am NOT going to go back to Mr. Daglione empty-handed!!_"MAKE it fit!!"

The pilot started to sweat as he dove for the opening, fighting the crosswinds at low altitude and barreled through the mouth of the tunnel!

Lara hung on as the car roared through the tunnel, the echoes coming off the concrete walls threatening to deafen her.She looked behind her."I don't believe it!He's following us into the tunnel!"

"Good."

Lara felt the car shudder again under the machine-gun fire and ignored the sight of the small bulges in the ceiling."Say that again?!"

"He doesn't have as much room to maneuver now.I was hoping that they'd be driven enough to follow us in."

"Aren't you forgetting that WE don't have much more room than they...."Her voice trailed off as she saw the other end of the tunnel, wide open...except for the construction vehicle passing in front of it.Her heart flew up into her throat."David...!"

"Come on, come on....!!" David said in a low voice."Show me how desperate you are..."

"SHOOT HIM!!SHOOT HIM!!" Durant yelled in the pilot's ear, an almost hysterical joy audible as the pilot scanned from side to side, fighting to keep himself from scraping the sides while going even faster than before.His finger was white as it held the trigger down, the guns starting to overheat from the overuse.The pilot edged the throttle forward a hair...

"David!You'll never make it!"Lara screeched.

"Too late now!!" he answered, sweat beading on his forehead.He felt the hammering of the bullets again, then felt a bright flare in his back.His teeth clenched as he fought back the pain._Don't you fucking pass...out NOW, Dave...!!_

Lara turned and her eyes got even wider as she saw the spread of red on his shirt."DAVID!!" she yelled, but there was no time.The end of the tunnel was only sixty feet away now.

David's mind began to swim.He saw the yellow of the vehicles blur as he got closer, time slowing...slowing..._Lara... he thought, wishing he could turn his head to look at her.__...die by fire..._

Ten feet away.

_...if I am weak..._

The car shot through the tunnel , missing the edge of the caterpillar by only four inches.The helicopter pilot looked up just in time to see the driver leap clear of the vehicle and think, _Lucky bastard...that fucker is SAFE..._

Then everything went white...then dark.

The construction crew dove for cover as the helicopter blew into a million shards, the caterpillar suddenly on fire.The car SCREEEEEEEEEECCCCHHHH!!!!ed to a stop, spinning around as Lara jammed her foot on David's own foot and hauled up on the emergency brake.When the car came to a final stop, she leaned back, sighed in relief, then turned to David.

One of the bullets had chewed through the overtaxed roof, entering the back of David's seat and ripping a hole in his abdomen.Lara felt lightheaded as she saw the extent of the damage."David...?" she asked haltingly."Da...?"

David coughed spasmodically, inhaling in a deep rasp.His eyes flew open in pain and Lara winced."Lara?"

"David!" she said, overwhelmed, then remembered the Eye.She pulled it out and shoved it into David's hands."Dave, listen to me.You must repeat the words I say.You must!"

"Lara...just let it...go..."His hands relaxed on the Eye.

"No!No, NO!"Lara took David's face in her hands."You listen to me, you disagreeable, obnoxious Yank!Don't you DARE die on me!"She blinked the tears from her eyes."Not again, I swear it, NOT AGAIN!Take the Eye and say the words!!"

"...Lara...I'm..."

"David!"She closed his hands around the Eye and her heart missed a beat as she felt how cold his hands were."PLEASE!!!!!"His eyes opened and he turned to look at her.Lara saw something in David's eyes that chilled her."NO!God-DAMN you, David, FIGHT!!FIGHT!!!"

David floated there, alone in the dark...the pain was gone.Everything was gone.Wait...not everything.He could still hear Lara's voice.She was begging him, pleading with him not to go.Let me go, he wanted to say, can't I just go and stop the pain?I'm too tired...too tired...

Then he saw her.Far away, as if she was at the end of the tunnel he had raced through.She was crying, her soul laid bare...the same way David's wife had before he'd left her deathbed.Pleading with her not to go...

Then something in his dying mind clicked.It was different, now...

He turned and saw his wife and daughter.They were smiling at him.He wanted to ask them not to despise him anymore, but he couldn't make himself speak.Then David felt them and he heard them telling him that no, he was not to blame, that it wasn't his fault...and that it wasn't David's time.Not yet.His family reached out to him, and David heard them say, _We have a gift for you..._

Then he remembered, with crystal clarity, the words...and though he had no voice, he spoke them aloud.

Lara felt him twitch and looked down at the Eye.It was glowing faintly, not as strong as it had in the hotel room, but strong enough.Daring to hope, she ripped open his mangled shirt to watch as the flesh and bone re-knitted and regenerated, the damage disappearing before her eyes.The effect was much slower, though, and Lara guessed that the Eye would need considerable time to recharge its mystical energies.

But it had enough to help David.

David's eyes focused and he sat up slowly.Lara flung her arms around him and held him close."I thought I'd lost you....!!!" she whispered hoarsely into his ear.

David embraced her, smiling slightly."Lara...I'll never leave you."

It was a special, wonderful moment...until the knock on the window shattered it.Lara and David looked out to see a construction worker with a look of utter disbelief.David tried to roll down the window.It wouldn't budge.He tried again and the window shattered, overstressed by the punishment it had endured.He shrugged and looked up at the worker as Lara settled back into her seat, extremely thankful for the second chance.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" asked the stunned worker.

David tried the motor.Amazingly, it still worked, turning over roughly.He turned to his left and said blandly, "I guess he was in the wrong lane."With that said, David limped the car away.

Lara and David sat back in their seats, airborne and on a transatlantic flight towards Nepal.Lara had managed to procure a new set of clothes for David from a gift shop in the airport, tossing the bloody clothes David wore before into a trashcan.After coming out from his hiding place in the car, they had bought two tickets to Nepal, with connecting flights in Madrid, Spain and Athens, Greece.

Now they were in first class, none the worse for their escape from Walt Disney World, except for their general appearances.Thanks to their tousled appearances, a steward had been on the verge of trying to move them bodily to the coach section before Lara produced the tickets as proof that they were, in fact, supposed to be there.

Lara ran her hands through her hair."Goodness...I must look like Elsa Lanchester."

"Yeah, but you can pull that look off."David sighed."Lara...we've gotta talk."

She laid back in the seat."What's on your mind, Dave?"

"Well...I want to tell you something.It's been something that I've been holding on to for years, something I've kept to myself for a very long time.And now...well, I have to tell you something about me."

Lara turned her head to look at him."I'm listening."

"Lara, I was once married to a wonderful woman named Kathy.This was way back when I was still on the force.I was trying to nail a piece of pond scum named...well, his name's not important.The point was, he was a very powerful person and he didn't like the way I was interrupting his enterprises.One day, I come home to find that Kathy went out to get some milk.She was pregnant at the time and I was a little worried, but not too much so.But the day got late and hours passed, and she didn't show up.Five hours later, I got the call from my precinct.They wanted me to come down and identify my wife's body."David looked down."Somebody had come along and ran her down in the parking lot.Whoever it was not only knocked her down, but backed up to roll over her to finish the job."

"Good Lord....!"Lara reached out and touched his arm.

"It was a message, to tell me that as long as I was a witness against this piece of crap, I was in danger and so was everyone connected to me.I still kept after him, but by the end of the trial, I was the only one who wanted to prosecute.Everyone else had either been bought off or scared off.In the end, he walked away and I was kicked off the force.You know what hurt the most, Lara?Not my job and not this guy getting off scot-free...my wife and unborn daughter were dead and I let them die because I wasn't there to protect them."

"David...how could you have known?" Lara said gently.

"I couldn't have...but I couldn't get away from it and I thought that they had died because of me and they wouldn't forgive me for letting them down.But tonight..."He turned to look at Lara."This is going to seem wild and incredible, but...I saw them.When everything was so dark and cold, I felt them close to me...and I realized that they didn't hate me.They still loved me and told me that it wasn't my fault."He shook his head."The memory is fading.I don't even know if I'll remember it tomorrow.All I know is that, now...now maybe I can let them go.The important thing is, I discovered something else."He took Lara's hand and looked into her eyes unwaveringly."I love you, Lara.I think maybe I always have.I've never felt this way about anyone since Kathy died...and I don't think I ever will.I know I'm not exactly the best catch, but...I can't hide how I feel anymore.I learned that tonight as I lay dying.I would've died if it wasn't for you, Lara...and I would've died with a greater pain in my heart than the pain I felt when I lost Kathy.I don't know what our future holds, if we'll live to a ripe old age or die tomorrow."His voice was solemn."But I couldn't go another hour without telling you how I felt.Even if you don't feel the same way..."

Lara took his hand."David...I have a small confession to make.I used to know a wonderful young man named Michael.David, wait, hear me out."She took a deep breath."I loved him very much.He wasn't like you, David, but he had his own strengths, his own principles, and once he made a promise, he stuck by his word.He remained true to himself, unlike so many others, and I loved him for it.Even though he was not a physical type like you, he was the strongest man I'd ever met before.He never failed me."Lara sighed."But it wasn't meant to be.Michael and I parted ways and I felt the first real hurt of my life.It hurt worse than any gunshot wound or knife slash I'd ever felt.I made my peace with Michael and myself, and..."

"Whatever happened to him?Did he die?"

Lara smiled."Someday, when I feel the time's right, I'll tell you all about it.But suffice it to say that I never made my peace, not really.I was always afraid that I might fall in love again, and then I'd lose that love again.I was really afraid...especially when you came into my life, David.You were impressive, strong, capable, but you never let that give you an ego problem.The more I came to know you, the more I loved you for your heart and your dedication to help people, even at your own expense.I don't love you the same way I loved Michael, but in its own way, what I feel for you is just as strong...maybe stronger."Lara took both his hands in hers."I almost lost you, David.I don't want to lose you."

Lara leaned forward and buried her face in David's chest as he embraced her, bowing his head on hers.They stayed like that for a long time, neither speaking.Then, as the silence threatened to envelop all, David opened his mouth."You're not going to lose me, Lara.I'm not going anywhere and I won't leave you.I swear that I won't leave you."

"But how do I know that, David?I almost lost you already!I never want to feel like that again.How can you say for sure what will happen tomorrow?"

"I...I can't."David held Lara close."You'll just have to have faith."

"Faith...I don't know if I've got that much faith in anything anymore.I've always relied upon myself, for a long time.I just don't know, David.I just don't know."

David and Lara held each other in silence all the way to Athens.

Sobered by the events of the night before, David and Lara didn't talk much on the way to the hotel.Finally, in an attempt to break the tension, he asked, "So, Lara...what are we going to have to do once we get to Nepal?"

That broke Lara out of her trance."Well..." she said as she scanned through her notes, "...ah, here we are.We get to Nepal and meet up with a guide who'll take us into the Himalayas, up to a certain point.From there, we have to navigate through the ice and rock until we find a temple...the Temple of the Destroyer."

"Sounds like a party place, all right.Do you wanna bring the chips and dip, or would you like me to bring them?"

Lara quirked a smile."You bring the chips, David."

"And you'll bring the dip?"

"Certainly.You'll be coming along, of course..."Lara grinned.

"All right, all right, I get the joke, hardee-har-har."He didn't lay the sarcasm on TOO thick; it was worth it to see a smile on Lara's face again."How long until we get there?"

"Just another day...we'll only be stopping in Athens long enough to get a night's sleep and contact our guide in Nepal.After that, it'll be a quick plane ride to the Himalayas and then we'll be on our way to the Temple."

"Good.I wouldn't mind getting a little peace and quiet and some sleep in a soft bed."

"Speak of the devil."Lara saw their hotel come into view, a small, quaint place loaded with local flavor."After we settle in, how about we go to this nice Greek place I know?It's got some GREAT dishes."

"How many times have you been to Athens?" David asked curiously.

"Enough to know a few things about some cuscus dishes and some REAL gyros, not that wretched stuff they sell back in the States.Come on."The carriage stopped and the two adventurers unloaded their gear.

Once inside, David was overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the place.Years of spending time in fast-food joints and greasy diners had ill-prepared him for the subtle charm of a meal cooked without the benefit of electricity.The only electrical power in the place took care of the lights and climate control; the food was prepared in stoves and ovens that had been made generations ago, as well as the recipes.Sharp, spicy smells came from the kitchen and David found his mouth watering.Lara ordered a pair of simple dishes, vegetable gyros and some lamb meat on the side, with hot cider to wash it all down.The meal went slowly as Lara and David savored the taste of the food.

"Now THIS...is what I call...a MEAL," David said between bites.

"That's good.That what I call it, too.That must make this place a restaurant."Lara leaned back in her chair."So what do you think, Dave?What do you think of the life of an archaeologist?"

"Pretty good."He smiled. "A change of scenery isn't too bad, after all.I still have trouble getting past the fact that there are no skyscrapers around here.I think I may have a slight phobia about wide-open spaces."

"Don't worry...we'll be checking out caves soon enough," Lara chuckled."Ready to get back to our rooms?"

"Yeah."

"Good.I've got to make some calls before I go to bed tonight."Lara raised her hand and called the waiter over."Check, please."

Lara and David enjoyed a quiet moonlit ride home.David put his arm around Lara and she smiled slightly, closing her eyes and snuggling into him.He sighed."Now THIS I can handle.No..."

"Hush, Dave.Wouldn't want to tempt Fate now, would we?"

"No, I guess not." David tightened his embrace ever so slightly."What do you want to do tonight?"

"Go to bed."

"Oh."David wasn't quite sure how to proceed from there; Lara's comment hadn't left any room for elaboration."Well...I think I'll go to bed, too."

"Good idea," Lara said contentedly._I can't wait to see what happens when he finds out that there's only one bed... _

David looked up as the cab stopped in front of the hotel."We're here."

"So soon?"Lara looked up lazily and smiled."I guess so."

"Come on, sleepyhead, let's go."David eased Lara up the stairs and opened the door, bringing her to the bed and letting her fall onto the mattress.

"Oooh, this feels nice," Lara purred."I don't want to move."

"You'll have to, unless you want to sleep in your clothes."

"I'll sleep in my clothes, then," Lara said stubbornly.

"So, uh, Lara..."

"Yes?"

"Where do I sleep?"

"Where do you think, silly?"She gave him an impish grin."Right here."

"Uh, Lara..."

"Don't be that way, Dave, I'm too tired to try and molest you tonight anyways," said Lara playfully."Besides, all I'd like tonight is to feel you next to me.That's all."

"That's it?"

"That's it."For now, she added mentally.

"Okay..."David removed his shoes and socks, then started to remove Lara's.

"Oooooh...thank you, David.Now, be a good lad and make sure they're shined for tomorrow."

"Bite me."

"Is that an invitation?"

"No.One more word, young lady, and I'll wake up in the middle of the night just to make sure that your shoelaces are a Boy Scout's nightmare in the morning."

"You are no fun, David Connors."

"Thank you."He removed the other shoe and sock, then scooted back on the bed to lie down next to Lara."Anything else you'd like me to do, Ms. Croft?Reload your pistols?Clean and press your shorts?"

"Just come over here, you troublesome man, you."Lara snuggled into David and closed her eyes, feeling his broad chest under her arm."Now, go to sleep."

"Yes, sir," David said sardonically.

"You must need the sleep more than I do if you have trouble identifying my gender," she yawned.

"Ha ha ha ha," he answered with a yawn of his own punctuating the last "ha".By that time, Lara was already asleep.Satisfied that he'd gotten the last word, David went to sleep as well.

David woke up alone in bed with the barrel of a gun up against his nose._Gee...THIS looks familiar... he thought calmly.He'd woken up the same way too many times to be shocked by it anymore."What is it this time?Did I forget to eat the mint on my pillow or something?"_

"Shut up, asshole.Where's the bitch?" said a coarse voice at the other end of the arm with the gun in its hand.

"Sorry, pal...if you're talking about Lara, she's in the room next door."

"Bullshit, pal.This room is registered to 'Mr. and Mrs. Connors,' so she's got to be here."

"Are you kidding?Do you know how many times this past year I've woken up with a gun barrel up against this part of my anatomy?She got tired of it and decided to sleep in another room because she knew it would happen again sooner or later."_Keep this guy stalled...Lara must've heard him coming, or else had an errand to run or something._"She registered under another name."

"What name?" asked the thug.

"Smith."

"Oh, you're REALLY funny."

"Okay, pal, the name is Jones.She likes that name, go figure."David's eyes flicked over to the left."Why DO you like that name, Lara?"

The thug turned his head to the left and saw no one there.Then he felt a dull pain in his arm, a sharp pain in his jaw and then saw nothing at all.

The thug woke up blind and hearing voices.Something wasn't right; his head felt funny and he couldn't move.

"You picked a FINE time to go out and grab some supplies.I woke up and this guy had a gun to my nose!"

"I had to pick up some special supplies, David, the kind you find on the black market.They don't keep banker's hours, you know."

"What kind of supplies?"

"I'll tell you later.Let's deal with our mystery guest first.By the way, nice job."

"Thanks.Wish I could say it was original, but I got the idea from a movie."

"I'll have to see that movie."Lara's voice walked over and pulled something off his face.

The thug's mouth was uncovered and he let out with an "OUCH!!" when the duct tape was removed."You BITCH!!!"

"Believe me, I bear no resemblance at all to a female dog._You_, however, look remarkably like a silver mummy.The same sticky stuff I ripped from your face, sorry about your mustache, by the by, is now covering your entire body...including your eyes."

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!"

"Not quite the answer I was looking for...David, would you care to take over?"

"GLADLY.Alright, meat puppet, here's the Law of the Jungle.You start talking to me about the person you work for, or you're going to be the star of your very own Greek tragedy.A name would do for starters."

"PISS OFF!I AIN'T SAYING SHIT!!"

"My, what a mouth he has on him," Lara said disapprovingly, "Excuse me, sir, but do you actually put food in the same vicinity?"

"Lady, when I get through with you, you're gonna beg me to kill you!"

"Don't start giving me clichés, butt-boy," David warned, "I can't STAND anyone who uses clichés all the time."

"You're DEAD MEAT!!"

"Another cliché," Lara tsked.

"I haven't heard a name yet, so it's obvious that you aren't completely able to comprehend your current situation.Let me help."

The thug felt another ripping sensation and yelled even louder, then looked around.Comprehension dawned as he found himself bound by several yards of duct tape, hanging upside down from the roof of the Parthenon.

As the thug responded to this realization, David remarked, "Now, Lara, didn't I tell you that the scream alone would be worth the trouble of carrying his fat carcass up here and bribing the guards?"

"I must agree with you on that, David."

After the thug's scream died down to a whimper, David walked to the edge of the roof, where a rope suspended the thug by his ankles."NOW, then...are you going to give me a name?"

"I can't!He'll kill me!"

David took out a knife and started drawing it across the rope.Fibers parted."You tried to open another nostril in my head, pal.I don't like that very much.In fact, when people try to do that, I get downright..."More fibers parted and the thug felt himself drop an inch."...SADISTIC."

"Now, David...I agreed to letting you get him up here, but is this really necessary??I mean, we ARE talking cold-blooded murder, here!"

"Back off, Lara.You DON'T want to go there."David turned his head back to the thug."Now, start talking...and maybe, just MAYBE, I'll let you live."

"Now SEE HERE, David!"Lara strode forward."You can't do this!This is inhuman!"

"What's your point?"

"I'm not going to be a party to this, David!I won't let you kill him!!!"Lara strode forward and came face-to-barrel with the thug's gun in David's hand.

"Don't you push me, Lara," David said in a cold voice.

Lara stared at David and slowly backed away."You're utterly insane, David...I swear it, you've gone too far this time!!I'm leaving.I don't care what you do from here on out, you sick bastard, but you're doing it alone!!"

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out," David said warningly, watching Lara go to the ladder and climb down, shock, anger and sorrow on her face.He turned back to the sweating thug."Now, then...where were we?"

"Look...if I tell ya....will you let me go?"

"If you give me what I want to know, I'll let you live.If not, well, we'll find out whether all that duct tape will hold your insides inside when you hit the stone..."

"ALRIGHT!!!" the thug shrieked."I'll tell you.His name's Leo Daglione."

"The gangster from Detroit??"

"He's a don, now..."

"I'm not surprised.He always WAS good with the shoe polish and tommygun.What's he want from me?"

"He wants the gem back."

"The Eye of Shiva.Figures.Does he want to awaken Shiva, too?"

"That's all I know!"

"Really?"David stood up and ran the knife blade over the rope.

"Alright, alright!!He's got this guy, says he knows where you two are going and he plans to try and follow you from there.That's all I know, I swear!"

"You know something?I believe you."

"Now cut me down, okay, man?"

"Sure."David raised the blade high and the thug's eyes widened as he saw it slash down towards the rope, parting it.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the thug screamed as he fell towards the stone, then felt a yank around his stomach and he slowed, then rose up again for a few feet, then dropped again.David climbed down the ladder, meeting Lara outside where she was watching the thug bouncing up and down at the end of the bungee cord secured around his waist.

"Now THAT'S comedy," David quipped as he walked over to Lara."By the way, if you ever decide to quit tomb raiding, Lara, I highly recommend show biz.That was a helluva performance...I was in on it and you almost had ME going."

"Well, I don't know...did you really think I was that good?"

The thug watched them go with murder in his heart as the duo drove away in their car and the armed guards came over to him to cut him loose.

"So who is Leo Daglione?" Lara asked as they drove to the airport.

"One connected, megalomaniacal, thoroughgoing bastard.He's known for being extremely calm, but he can be equally ruthless and murderous.There's a rumor that when he first started out, he murdered his entire family to prove his devotion to the mob.Wife, daughters, father, mother.Dead."

"The mob asked him to do that?"

"No...he VOLUNTEERED."

"My God..."

"Guess again.The mob was so impressed that he became a 'made man' for what he did.It used to be that the mob frowned upon killing family, but nowadays..."David shook his head."Nobody respects the important traditions anymore."

"I'll take your word for it.I know as much about the Mafia as you do about 4th Century China."

"Thanks...I think.In any case, he's obsessed with power.One or two of his men were associated with Jacqueline Natla for a while, before she found them out and used them to feed the fish in the Hudson River.I think Daglione believes that he can get even more power from Shiva."

"That's crazy."

"You got it."David shook his head."But he's got a LOT of muscle working for him.We've got to come up with a way to shake him."

"Well, David, taking the earlier flight to Nepal may throw him off the track for a while.After that...we'll just have to take it as we go."

"Speak of the devil.We're here."David looked around the airfield as the cab drove to the depot."I guess I'm still used to busy city airports...considering how many planes are out there on the field, if I needed to guess which one we'd be taking, I could flip a coin."

"Not every airport is Heathrow or O'Hare.Besides, Athens airport is probably being watched, so a small airport like this won't be noticed."Lara went up to the main desk and spoke to the officer there while David looked around.It was a sunny day, with clouds to the east.

"Figures...and I left Disney World for this.I've GOT to get a better travel agent," he joked.

"Dave, come on!The plane's leaving in seven minutes!!" Lara yelled as she hotfooted it to the cargo plane on her left.David grabbed his gear and ran for the plane, catching up to Lara as she got to the door.

"THIS is our ride?"

"Only one I could get on short notice," Lara said as she and Dave walked up the stairs."Don't worry, the officer said that the plane would be empty except for some freight."

"Freight??"

"Don't worry, there are jump seats inside...hope you don't mind the noise," Lara said cheerfully as she walked inside and stowed her gear under a fold-down seat.

Dave walked in, felt the plane start to move and was about to put his gear away when he saw something that made him drop his pack where it was."Uh, Lara?"

"Yes?"Lara yelled back.

"It's not the noise that bothers me...it's the company."

"What?!" Lara asked, then saw the gunmen stepping out from behind the boxes.

One of them, a tall, familiar lug, grinned when he saw Lara and David."Hi there...remember me?" he asked, rubbing the top of his head, then snarled, "Don't even THINK about it," as Lara moved a hand down to her pack.

David turned around, feeling the plane leave the ground, and saw a well-dressed gentleman step out from the pilot's compartment."Son of a BITCH..."

"I can prove my lineage beyond a shadow of a doubt," Leo Daglione said blithely, "which is more than I can say for you, David Connors.I'm starting to lose faith in you, Lara Croft," he said as the plane's engines cycled down to a lower decibel level."I knew you'd try to leave early when I sent Bruce over to chat with David."

"HOW?" David asked."He couldn't have told you that he had failed in time for you to arrange this.Nobody's that powerful."

"Where power fails, intelligence prevails.I never expected Bruce to succeed in getting you to talk...he's far too brutish and stupid for that.So I sent him to flush you out, providing you with just enough knowledge to scare you into taking an earlier flight, then deducing that you'd avoid public transportation in order to save time.And I was right."He smiled in a fashion that made Lara want to punch that smile right off his face."You know, David, Lara Croft is quite predictable, once one takes the time to observe her carefully.Of all people, I expected you to catch a clue or two on what I was planning...but I suppose that your reputation is less substance and more public relations than anything else.A pity.I was looking forward to pitting my superior intelligence against two such worthy adversaries, but it seems that my wishes came up one mind short in that department."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Daglione," Lara said hotly.

"Well, I suppose it's only right, then, that I only get rid of one of you.After all, I only need Lara Croft to get me to Shiva's temple.As for you, David...I can only say that you have been riding on luck for far too long.Today, your supply of luck runs out.Now take a seat, both of you."Leo smiled."The 'FASTEN SEAT BELTS' light is on.And please, no heroics.I may not want to kill you yet, Ms. Croft, but I have no compunctions about making the rest of your life quite painful.Besides, I'd hate for you to have David leave you without saying your good-byes."

David and Lara sat down next to each other."Lara..."

"No good-byes, Dave," she said softly, "not now.I don't know about you, but I do know that I'm not ready to say good-bye to you yet."

David looked around."We may not be getting a choice."

"Calm down, Dave...we've been in worse spots."

"When?"

"Come on, Dave...remember that situation with Natla?Things were kind of tight then, weren't they?And we got out all right."Lara, to her credit, managed to keep her voice steady and her tears inside.

"Yeah..."David looked at Daglione.The gangster looked completely cool, as if he was attending a piano recital."...maybe."

They had only been in the air a few hours when Leo came back down from the pilot's compartment."Alright, everyone, suit up.The plane will be landing soon, after all.I'll keep them covered," he said while pulling out a Walther PPK and holding it on David and Lara.The thugs nodded and opened up one of the crates, revealing nine backpacks.As the thugs put them on, David and Lara recognized them to be parachutes."Make sure they're nice and snug, boys.After all, all there needs to be is one mistake and you're a mess on some mountain goat's woolen hide."He turned to Lara Croft."You, too, Lara.I suppose you already know how to use one of those.Get up and put one on."

Lara slowly got up and walked to the crate.

"And if you've got any ideas in your head about trying to jump me, Lara, I've got your lover covered...and I'm a good shot."He smiled."Just ask my wife and kids.Oh wait, that's right, you can't."

"You're a sick man, do you realize that?"Lara put on the parachute.

"So I've heard."He smiled wider."But David is sane, isn't he?He's going to hold onto that sanity for the rest of his life...every last minute of it.Now then, I do believe you know what to do, gentlemen.Lara and I are going to have a little talk up front.Are you all going to have trouble with him?"

"Not a bit, boss."Johnny Laylor cracked his knuckles."You embarrassed me back at the dino building, Connors.NOT smart."He reached up and slammed his fist against a large button.At the rear of the plane, the loading ramp opened up and the air rushed in, replacing the stale air inside the cargo area with fresh air from 14,000 feet."Now you're gonna take the long fall," Laylor said as he walked towards David, drawing his pistol.

"Oh yeah, asshole.That's SO easy.Go ahead, shoot.I know what you _really_ want to do, Johnny.But you and I both know that you're nothing but a two-bit, monkey-suited LOSER and you don't have the balls to try and take me on man-to-man!Go ahead," David yelled, "pull the trigger!It's the only safe way you can take me out and you know it!!"

As David taunted the man, Laylor's face began to twist in rage.He also knew that the others were watching him carefully and he'd already taken enough heat from them thanks to what happened the last time he tried to get David.He tossed the gun to one side and walked towards David, fingers curling into fists."Buddy, when I get through with you, you're gonna WISH that I'd shot you!"

Up in the pilot's compartment, Leo and Lara were having a chat.Well, not really, unless "having a chat" involved interrogation.

"I went through your pack and found the map, Lara.Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, Ms. Croft.Now, the easy way involves you getting out of this alive and unhurt.Who knows?You may even profit from what you've learned, write it up in some paper."

"Get stuffed," Lara said coldly.

"Which brings us to the HARD way."He pulled out a slim dagger."I know some rather rough types in Nepal, young lady.They would pay a high price for you, even if you were somewhat damaged at the time.Of course, I don't think they'll MIND that your eyes and tongue were cut out of your head; they won't want you for small talk and they aren't very nice to look at, either.You might even live long enough to get used to the idea of being their slave.But be sure of one thing, Lara...I do not make threats.I make promises.And I will do my best to keep this promise."

Lara glared at him.

"Now, of course, if you're cooperative, we won't have a problem.That, too, I can promise you.You can either be someone else's slave or a full partner in this.Your choice."

David fell back against the side of the plane, blood spurting from his nose_.DON'T...BLACK OUT... he thought as he got to his feet just before Laylor hit him in the gut, doubling him over.Laylor stepped back._

"I thought you were tough, Connors.Guess you can't believe everything you WHOOF!!!" he said as David sprang forward and shoved a fist into his stomach.Laylor tried to back away, but David was recovering far too fast, delivering a fast one-two punch that snapped Laylor's face back and up.Laylor grinned through his smashed nose."Good one, David...this might be fun after all."He jabbed left and right, David blocking and moving to keep from getting punched again."Come on, Davey...show me just how much you can take."

The two men pounded each other, David sending short, hard jabs into Laylor's body and Laylor returning with powerful, full rights and lefts.David was enduring it well, but he knew that he was on borrowed time, now.If he won, the others would shoot him.If he lost...

David bore another hit to the side of his head and his world went black for a moment.He stumbled back towards the open door...

Laylor grabbed him and pulled him back from the edge."I ain't through with you yet, asshole."He threw David over his head onto his back.That woke David up and he crawled a few paces away before Laylor picked him up, pulling him to his feet."You're a mess, David.You were a worthless mess long before I came along and finished the job.And now you're going to be a mess all over the Himalayas."Laylor grinned."Any last words?"

"Yeah...you talk too damn much."

Laylor frowned right before David's knee came up between the leg straps of his parachute.His eyes rolled up in his head and he staggered back, David coming after him with both fists flying.David hit him as fast and as hard as he could and Laylor was tossed about, lefts and rights coming at him too fast for him to block, much less get away.

Leo turned back to look through the pilot's door and saw what was going on.He frowned and opened the door."WHAT'S GOING ON HERE??" he yelled and everything stopped.David looked up to see Leo holding a gun on him and he backed off warily.

Laylor looked up at his employer."Boss...!"

"I TOLD you to KILL him!Not fight, kill!"

"But, Boss...I thought...!"

"You THOUGHT?I don't pay you to THINK, Laylor, I pay you to follow orders!Boys, I want you to watch this carefully," he yelled and fired into Laylor's head, sending the chunk of lead ricocheting around inside Laylor's skull.As Laylor fell, Leo said in a strong voice, "You follow orders, you get to profit from them.If you follow orders, you end up like that sorry piece of..."

Then the plane pitched skywards.

The thugs dropped their guns and flailed to grab at supports or the floor as the plane's nose rose.Leo nearly fell out of the cockpit.David grabbed hold of one of the secured crates and watched as Laylor's body slid out the back of the plane. 

Leo turned back to see Lara wrestling with the pilots, one hand firm on the control stick and pulling back.Leo reached up and yanked Lara free from the stick, shoving her into a seat and putting the barrel of his gun under her chin."Very noble, Ms. Croft.Stupid, but noble."

Lara spit into his face.

Leo calmly pulled out a handkerchief, wiped his face, then backhanded her with the pistol, sending her into unconsciousness.He turned back, a touch of true anger touching his face."As for YOU, Mr. Connors...as they say, it isn't the FALL..."Leo fired and David spun backwards towards the edge of the abyss...and fell out of the plane."...it's the sudden stop at the bottom," Leo finished with a satisfied smile."Now get this plane back on course, pilot, and this time TRY and keep the plane level."


	6. The Eyes Of Shiva, Part Three: Gods Of D

**The Eyes Of Shiva, Part III:**

# Gods Of Destruction

## By C. Mage

** **

** **

David felt the pain in his shoulder first, then the dizzying sensation of freefall.The wind whipped at his clothes and stung his eyes, forcing him to squint.He dimly saw the plane leaving him behind and realized that things had gone from bad to infinitely worse.David looked around and saw the mountains coming up at him much too fast for his own good and thought, _This is it...I'm going to buy in the Himalayas, fer chrissakes...!!_

Then he saw something out of the corner of his eye.He looked through watering eyes to see the body of Johnny Laylor drifting through space.Then he realized why Laylor looked so strange.

There was a bulge on his back.

_THE PARACHUTE!!!David fought to remember everything he'd seen on those TV specials involving stunt parachuting.After tumbling twice, he closed his arms to his body and closed his legs, diving towards Laylor's corpse.It was difficult at best; no amount of TV watching was a comparable substitute for real, practiced skill, but David had only two options left:grab the chute and figure out how to work it in time, or learn how to fly._

He was about seven thousand feet above the mountains when he caught up with Laylor._Sorry, Johnny, but I need this more than you do!! he thought, pulling on the buckles and straps, trying to get the limp cadaver out of the rig.The two tumbled end over end as each pull and tug translated into left and right somersaults._

Finally, David pulled the parachute off and climbed into it, praying that he was doing it right.He buckled himself in as he plummeted towards the ground and snapped the last one at just over a thousand feet above the peaks.

David couldn't find the ripcord.

_Where is it?!?!David reached all over, looking for a handle or a loop or SOMETHING as the rock rushed up to meet him..._

Lara Croft awoke with a sting on her cheek.She opened her eyes to see Leo Daglione looking down at her.Suddenly realizing what was going on, she started to move when a hand like an iron C-clamp came down on her shoulder.

"Time to put your tray-tables into their upright position, Lara."

"MISS Croft to you," she snarled.

"Very well then, MISS Croft it is.We're about ready to depart.The spot on the map indicates a valley only a few minutes away, so we'd better get ready to go, shouldn't we?"

"Where's David?" she asked with a touch of fear in her heart.

"I'm afraid he stepped out a half-hour ago."

The hand became a crushing grip and Lara allowed herself to be led to the rear of the plane and fitted with a parachute.She looked down and somewhere inside her, a cold rage filled her.She looked up at Daglione with flint in her eyes and said, "When David gets through with you, villain, you'll wish YOU were the one to drop."

"You still think he's alive?Lara, I must have hit you harder than I thought."Leo regarded her curiously."A fourteen-thousand foot drop without a parachute, miles from the nearest civilized area?What do you think he IS, Ms. Croft?Superman?"

"Not in the least."

"I thought not."

"David doesn't fear Kryptonite in the slightest."

Leo looked at Lara coldly."Please, Ms. Croft.Try and be realistic.Don't get any false hopes up for some gallant rescue from that waste of skin; David Connors is deader than disco."

Far away, a cold plateau of ice and snow.The scenery lay unchanging, silent as a church on Monday...then a groan echoed softly from underneath the whiteness.A part of the white moved, then was pushed aside as David Connors climbed out from under the silk of the parachute.He looked up into the distance at the plane disappeared from sight, then unhooked the backpack and let it fall, retaining the emergency parachute._I guess that was the right one... he thought as he recalled the bone-jarring YANK as the harness reacted to the chute opening up._

He shook as the thin, cold air hit him.He looked around, but didn't see Laylor's body anywhere.Probably wouldn't be much to see...he's probably just over a centimeter thick right now._Alright, David, first things first.You've gotta find Lara...He looked in the direction the plane had gone.__..and hope you don't freeze to death first._

As he walked, he really hoped that if he and Lara ever went on another one of their adventures again, they wouldn't end up somewhere THIS cold again.

"Well, that wasn't so bad, wasn't it, boys?" Leo said brightly as he dropped his parachute.The others, not quite so eager, nodded in various stages of relief."Now, then, Ms. Croft.Here's the map.Now, I know what you're thinking, Ms. Croft...you know, about leading us on a wild goosechase, losing us in the dark, stuff like that."

Lara said nothing.

"As I suspected.Miss Croft is going to lead us to the Temple now.Aren't you?"

The wind blowing over the peaks barely hid the sound of Lara grinding her teeth.

David collapsed for the fourth time, his balance nearly as numb as the rest of him.He couldn't feel his fingers or feet, and he had barely traveled a few miles._Come on...come on, Lara's counting on you...don't let her down..._

He got up and trudged forward five more steps before falling again.A part of his mind said soothingly, _Just take a little nap, David...a little sleep will do you good._

_NO!!He got up and reached out to pull himself up, but his body was a traitor to his mind and he couldn't get up.David didn't feel the pain in his shoulder anymore...didn't feel anything...._

Lara led the group through the valley, noting that it was a great deal warmer in this area._Must be a hot spring of lava flow underneath here somewhere...She looked at the map again."It's not far...maybe another mile, maybe less."_

"Good."Leo looked around at the trees in the valley."Nice place.May have to put up a mall here someday."

"Don't you revere anything, Daglione?" Lara said disgustedly.

"Of course I do."

"And what is that?"

"You're talking to him."

Lara sighed.

"Accepting your fate, Miss Croft?Good."

"You're pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?" Lara said crossly.

"Of course I am.You see, Miss Croft, from an early age, I've always been the sort of man who has had to rely upon himself and his own faculties to succeed.Soon after I was a young lad, I realized that I was, in fact, superior to all others.I routinely outsmarted teachers, bullies, authorities, rivals and all such obstacles between myself and what I want.Not one has come close to equaling me in brains, talent or cunning.I'm rather proud of that."

"I can tell," Lara said sarcastically.

"No shame in admitting defeat, Miss Croft.You, like everyone else, assumed that you were my equal in brains and failed.There's a long list of people on that list, Miss Croft, and you're only the most recent addition."Leo smiled."I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, either you or David Connors would give me a better run for my money.You did.He didn't."

"Don't even speak of him, Daglione...! said Lara harshly."You're not half the man he is!"

"You're right...I'm easily twice the man he _was_...and you should be more polite."

Lara stayed silent._You have never SEEN me truly impolite, Mr. Daglione... she thought, wishing that she had her guns.__Why stop there?I might as well wish not to be here and that I was back at Walt Disney World with David..._

David woke up warm all over and in a beautiful place, colored in red and gold._Funny...I thought Heaven would be whiter...Then he opened his eyes and saw the men standing around him.All were Hindu._

"Uh...am I dead?Is this Heaven?"

"Not quite," said a voice to his left and he saw an old man with a smile on his wrinkled face."But you are in a holy place, Chosen One."

"Chosen One?I think you've got the wrong guy."David sat up.

"No, we have not.Surely, did you not come from the sky, with a wound in your body?"

"Come from the...??Uh-uh, I just fell out of a plane and..."

"I know not what you mean, but I do know the prophecies of our sect."The old monk walked to a pillow and sat down upon it."They foretold your coming."

"Who are you people?"David started to get up when he realized that he was naked.He wrapped the blanket around him quickly, noting some female members looking at him with a smile.

"We are the Chosen Of Shiva, here to protect his rest until he himself awakens.We guard his temple from all outsiders."

"Temple?Oh, BOY..."He walked over to the old man."I hate to tell you this, but there is a serious psycho trying to wake Shiva up.Why aren't you out there protecting the temple from him?"

"It is not our place to stop them, but yours.You are the Chosen One, the one who will defend the Temple from the infidels."

"Will you stop with this 'Chosen One' stuff?I don't believe in Shiva, or any other Hindu god."

"It is not a matter of faith, it is a matter of what is and what must be."

"Alright, alright...so, what if I am this 'Chosen One'?"

The priest took out a circlet and handed it to David.The headpiece was made of gold and silver threads, weaved together in a fashion David couldn't identify."What am I supposed to do with this?"

"The one who tries to awaken Shiva will be given Shiva's power, but the glory of Shiva will drive that person mad if he does not truly believe in the essence of what Shiva is."

"Great.Just what I need, Daglione even nuttier than before and able to wreak havoc.So what does this do?"

"It releases the power of Shiva's opposite."

"Opposite?"

"The goddess Kali."

"HOLD IT."David held up a hand."Isn't Kali the goddess of death?I REALLY don't want to have to face two gods, especially not those two."

"It is the only way, Chosen One."

"Whatta world...!!!"He picked up the circlet."Doesn't look like much."

"Neither do you, yet you ARE the Chosen One."

"Thanks for the ego-boo," David said sourly.

"You must not succumb to the power of Shiva yourself," the monk warned."His power is not of this world, yet it is enough to seduce even trained minds.You must be true to yourself and have no wish to take control of Shiva's power yourself."

"Look, Yoda, I don't give a damn about some god's power...the only reason I'm doing this is because the woman I love is with those psychopaths and I'm not leaving her there.I'm getting Lara out of there and that's it.Shiva, Kali, the rest of you, you can all rot in this frozen wasteland for all I care."

"Then it is settled."

"Can we get to the temple before they do?"

"Yes.There is a secret passage that will lead you to the temple, a path through an underground lake.You must hurry."

"Just show me the way, old man."David stood up."I have a score to settle."

"Grand place, isn't it?"Leo said breathlessly.He looked up at the face of the Temple, chiseled out of glacial ice."A place of such majesty in an area so cold, the ice was harder than stone, yet the priests managed to create this as well as everything else inside.Now then, one more little detail.Gentlemen, please hold Ms. Croft still."

"What are you...HEY, LEGGO ME, YOU CRAZY GITS!" Lara yelled as her arms were pinned and her hair yanked back to expose her neck._Great...the one time I wish I DIDN'T have long hair...!_

"Calm down, Ms. Croft."Daglione took out a slim collar with a squarish bulb on the end and carefully put it around her neck, snapping it shut."Now take it easy.This won't hurt a bit..."He took out a small box with a small button on it and pressed the button, holding it down until the collar made a short BLEEP."There, it's set.Let her go, gentlemen."

Lara yanked herself free and moved her hands up to the collar."What have you done to me?"

"Nothing much...just put a little gadget on you.Before you try pulling it off, let me tell you what it does.I want to make sure that you don't run off, so I brought this along.Quite clever, actually.If you try to run off, all I have to do is press this button..."

Lara was knocked to her knees by a powerful taser charge, leaving her gasping on the ground.

"Now, should you manage to get away by the use of surprise, the second function of the bulb takes effect.You see, that bulb has a small amount of plastic explosive within it.If you get too far away...BOOM."

"You sadistic bastard."

"The same thing happens if you try to remove it."

"What if I went up to you right now, hung on to you and tried removing it?"

Daglione smiled."You won't.I know you too well, Ms. Croft...you're too much the hopeful idealist to give up so easily.Now let's get moving.How do we get into the door?"

"You're not supposed to."

"If that's a hint of rebellion I hear, Ms. Croft..."Daglione held up the small trigger box.

"No, Daglione.I mean the way in is not through the door.The door itself is a trap."

Leo Daglione lowered his hand."Pray continue."

"The acolytes were devotees of Shiva, and were schooled in many form of death and destruction.Of course, this required well-toned and trained bodies.One of the ways they trained was to scale the face of the temple and climb through that portal high up there."Lara pointed up to a smaller door just wide enough for a man to walk through."The main doors at ground level are most likely trapped to keep out intruders...like you...and invaders trying to lay siege to the castle."

"What would the trap be, I wonder?"

"You have my permission to open those doors and find out," Lara said matter-of-factly, just before another jolt of electricity knocked her to one knee.

"Try and keep your comments to the factual, Ms. Croft.Any editorial comments will be punctuated by a press on this button.In short, if you BECOME a pain-in-the-neck..."Daglione let the rest of the sentence hang there."Now, then.Ricardo, break out the climbing gear."

The climb up was perilous, to say the least, even for someone as well-trained as Lara.The rest of the thugs had to be pulled up by a block-and-tackle.Lara thought about running, but the weight around her neck kept her from trying it.As she helped Daglione pull up the last of the group, she took a torch from a bracket in the wall and lit it, holding it ahead of her.She could see the walls were lined with statues, each one holding a different implement of death...and she counted twenty statues within the reach of the torchlight.

"What are those?" Daglione asked, loosening his tie.

"Those are the founders of the temple, the original devotees of Shiva.They were immortalized in stone and set here to guard the entrance from all non-believers."

"Are they trapped as well?"

"Most likely.I don't dare test what form the trap takes; the priests were quite fond of apocalyptic results.They would be more than capable of setting up different triggers capable of bringing this whole temple down around our ears."

"So how do we proceed?"

"Carefully."Lara held the torch high, examining every square foot of the walls, ceiling and floor.She stepped forward with great care and moved down the corridor.

Daglione nodded, then said to his men, "Step where I step.I don't think I need to impress upon you the seriousness of this.One wrong step and you ALL are dead...even if any of you survive, I'll kill the survivors.Got it?"

He moved to follow Lara, matching her steps with pained precision.

As the group moved through the corridor and past the statues, Lara couldn't help but feel their eyes upon her.She thought she'd be used to the idea of going where she wasn't wanted, but there was a quality to this place that set every nerve on edge.Lara suddenly remembered how she felt when she was twelve, after sneaking into her mother's vanity to try on some of her mother's jewelry.She was not wanted here.

The other thugs didn't feel anything but cramped, but Daglione felt tense.Not much more than that; he'd long since sublimated any such feelings of guilt for his actions.

The hallway opened up into a main room with hallways going left and right.A small altar was placed in the middle of the room, with a golden statue of Shiva directly behind it, his arms outstretched with a wicked dagger in each hand.On the altar sat a golden plate and a golden cup filled with sparkling clear liquid.

"Nice...but I can get gold anytime.Is it safe to walk around in here?"

"I think so...anybody able to go past those traps would've had to face the priests, and they preferred not to have the entire floor rigged, I imagine."

"What next?" Daglione asked.

"I don't know...at this point, all information on the temple ends.The location was secret enough, but no known non-devotee ever entered the temple and lived to leave with a map of the floor-plan."

"Wonderful..." Daglione sighed.

One of the thugs, a bit thirsty, went over to the cup and looked in."Man, I could use a drink right now," he commented, picking up the cup and tipping his head back as Daglione caught the motion out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't, you idiot!!"he cried, but it was too late.The thug's eyes widened and he clutched at his throat, blood bubbling from his mouth.He fell to the floor, clawing at his throat and chest, trying to suck air into his lungs as red froth dripped down his chin and spattered on the floor.Everyone crowded around as the man died and Daglione had to push two of them out of the way to get to the thug's side.By then, it was too late.Blood ran from his mouth in a slow river."What happened?"

Lara went to the fallen cup and picked it up, pouring out the contents on the altar.The "water" formed a small pile on the flat surface."From the look of it, he took a giant swig of finely-ground diamond-dust.Nasty way to go."

"Stupid..."Daglione stood up."From now on, you morons, don't touch ANYTHING unless I tell you to...got it?"

"Got it," the men grunted, but one of them had his eyes on the gold._As soon as they leave, I can just stick the stuff in my pack and no one will know the difference, he thought._

"Alright, Ms. Croft...pick a direction."

Lara considered, then pointed at the right corridor."That one."

"Ladies first," Daglione said with a smile.

They started walking down the hallway when they heard a thunderous CRUNCH!!! behind them, startling them.They turned and ran back into the room to see one of the thugs in a piercing embrace.The statue's arms were closed on the thug's body and the daggers, formerly pointing down, were now embedded in the twitching corpse.The plate that had once been on the altar was now hanging over the side, suspended by a thin thread.

Leo turned to the others."Any questions?"

There were no questions at all.

"Fine.Let's go, Ms. Croft."

_Now only Leo and four thugs are left…better odds..._ thought Lara as they walked down the hall to the next room.

David walked through the natural caverns quickly.He would've run if he'd thought he could get any appreciable traction on the ice.Fortunately, he was garbed in a thick parka, leggings and boots with sharp rocks embedded within the soles.Good thing, too.

The hallway was inside a glacier.

He walked through the cold blue walls while three of the monks kept good time, moving through the freezing hallway as if they were jogging through a park in the early morning.David couldn't understand how they could maneuver so quickly...it was as if they wore ice skates instead of the same kind of boots he wore."How much farther?"

"The temple is this way...not much farther."

"Good."

"It's only another mile."

"Oy..."David was unused to the idea of wearing so much clothing._I feel like the Michelin Man."You said there was an underground lake around here somewhere...I don't see how there could be any body of water around here that isn't frozen."_

"Here."The lead monk stopped, pointing to a passageway heading down."Go down there and follow the path to the door.That door will take you to the Shrine."

"Thanks...anything else I need to know?"

"Try not to die."

David looked down at the smiling priest."Geez, Tibetan humor, go figure..."He carefully moved down the path.After going about a hundred feet, he stopped and whistled.

David was now in a gigantic cavern of blue glacial ice, filled with a lake of slow moving water.The path continued down to an ice-encrusted boat, obviously ancient, but apparently serviceable.David went down to the water and pulled off a glove, poking a finger into the water.

The water was WARM.

_How the...?Wait a minute.If I remember correctly, the Himalayas were formed when what was once the island of India crashed into the mainland, pushing the land and rock into a mountainous area.There must be lava flows and hotsprings throughout this whole area.No wonder the priests didn't freeze solid when they settled here.He climbed into the boat and looked around the deck._

No oars, no pole...just a crank set into the deck.

David turned the crank and felt the boat move forward.He grinned."Crafty..."He began to wind the crank faster and felt the boat propel itself across the lake, heading downstream.He settled back and took off the furred parka he wore; the air was getting much warmer the further he went.By the time he reached the end, he had stripped down to his normal clothes and was wishing that he'd brought shorts.

The end of the line was a set of stone stairs leading up to a small door.He stopped the boat at the stairs and got out, shaking out his right arm to relieve the weariness caused by a few thousand revolutions.David walked up the stairs and opened the door, revealing a gigantic chamber.

Actually, chamber wasn't the right word..."coliseum" worked much better.

The Shrine was a gigantic training area, loaded with what appeared to be exercise equipment and combat weaponry.The outside ring was an obstacle course, only the obstacles were designed to cripple, maim or kill the slow.Rocks suspended from chains, walls of blades, flying whiptails...David cringed just looking at it.

The doorway he exited was near the altar and worship area, and David got a good look at the statue that towered a full sixty feet over the altar itself.It was Shiva, many-armed and angry, a weapon in each fist.David walked up behind the altar and looked up at the demonic face."Mister...you are one UGLY motherfucker..."He stopped.

The statue had one eye.

"Holy shit." David looked up at the face, then around the training area.He saw a rack holding some knives and picked one up._Balanced...and still in good condition.Cold dry air must be great for preservation.Alright, David, now what do you do?_

He walked across the floor and noticed that the obstacle course was mechanized.The different threats along the course were driven by flywheels and counterweights, operated by levers and pulleys.

David grinned."I think it's time to wind up the amusement park rides..."

Lara sat down carefully upon the wooden floor and looked around her.Only minutes before, the group had come upon a full-blown town built within a monstrous cavern.There were twenty to thirty houses and other assorted buildings of unknown purpose, and Daglione had warned his men not to go in any buildings that had not been thoroughly checked by both Lara and Daglione.Once some of the buildings had been deemed safe, Daglione declared that it was high time they got some sleep.

Before Daglione retired to his chosen resting place, he warned his men that if Lara was accosted any time during the sleep period, he'd personally gut them and leave them for the wolves.That convinced a few of them to keep their desires locked down for the night, and all retired to get some sleep.

Lara, however, was not getting any rest at all.

Every time she closed her eyes, David's face swam in front of her.Many times, she imagined that if she just reached out and grabbed quick enough, she could pull David forth like a stage magician's rabbit and hold him close once again.The night passed slowly and Lara had to put every ounce of effort into keeping herself from being paralyzed by grief.

By the time Daglione knocked on her door the next morning, Lara was planning cold revenge."Move it, Ms. Croft.We're very close, now.The sooner we get to our goal..."

"YOUR goal, Daglione.Not MINE."Lara got up and stretched to shake the sleep from her muscles.

"Really?I was certain that you were as hot to get here as myself.What changed your mind?"

Lara looked at him with a gaze colder than the glacier around them."It wasn't worth the cost."

"I don't believe that for a second.Despite what the saints say, the end always justifies the means.Now get it in gear.Think of it this way, the sooner I get what I want, the sooner you get to lose your collar.Then we can say our good-byes and get on with our lives."

_Who are you fooling, Daglione?I'm dead the moment you get what you want...and the sick part is, I really don't mind that much.Lara joined the rest of the group at the entrance to the Shrine._

The main doors were open wide, fixed there by a chain link between the doors, acting as a counter weight to the doors.They walked past the doors and Daglione looked up at the statue of Shiva overlooking the stadium-sized grounds."At last...after all this time..."He brought out the Eye and watched its brilliance."All that needs to be done is to put it next to its twin..."

Lara felt a tug on her shoulder...

"...and then my destiny will be complete!"Daglione grinned a manic grin as he stepped forward."What do you think of that, eh, Lara?"

No answer.

Daglione turned around and his jaw dropped open.Lara was gone."YOU IDIOTS!!" Daglione snarled, his rage no longer hidden behind the veneer of civility."While you morons weren't looking, she ran off!Well, it doesn't matter...I'll find her easily enough."He brought out the trigger box and held it high. 

Lara looked up as she was hauled high over the entranceway.She looked up in shock as she saw David reeling her in using the grapplegun.At the sight of seeing David alive, she flew into his arms and held him close."David!I thought you were...!!"

"I know, I know, baby...I missed you, too." David smiled, relieved that Daglione hadn't killed her."Hey, what's this around your neck?"

Lara's eyes went wide."David, it's a bomb!!"

"I WARNED YOU ABOUT THE PRICE OF DISOBEDIENCE, MS. CROFT.NOW THAT I DON'T NEED YOU ANYMORE...!!

Lara's eyes went wide in shock as she looked down at Daglione."David...!!!" she whispered hoarsely.

David had already seen her unwanted "jewelry" and had pulled off the cover of the bulb around her neck."Hang on, Lara....!"

"Get away from me, David, or you'll go up with me!"

"Nobody's...going...anywhere...!"David picked out three wires."I leave for a day and look what happens to you.Do you think I'll do that again?"

"SAY GOOD-BYE, LARA CROFT!!" Daglione said, and...

"This had better be the right one," David said, and pulled out the blue wire.

...pressed the button.

Silence.

Daglione listened for the sound of the explosion, but there was no sound except for the howl of wind just outside the ice covering the Shrine.He threw the box to the ground."DAMN!"

"What's the matter, Leo old boy?Having trouble getting used to the idea of being a loser?"

Daglione went white."CONNORS?!?!"

David peeked over the side."The one and only."

"How could you be alive?!"

"Remember when you practically threw me out the plane?Is it my fault that you're such a lousy shot?I missed the planet completely.It was the damnedest thing..."

"KILL THEM!!!" Daglione shouted, hopping up and down in paroxysms of rage.Quite unnerved by the sight of their usually calm employer raving like a child having a tantrum, the thugs opened up with everything they had.David ducked back against the stone as bullets rained upwards.

"Well, THAT went well!" David groused.He turned to Lara wand was rewarded by a slap across the face."OW!!What the hell was THAT for??"

"David Connors, don't you EVER scare me like that again, do you hear me??If you ever do that again, I swear I'll....I'LL...!!!"

David cut her off by planting his lips on hers and kissing her solidly.She beat on him for a few more seconds, then slowly succumbed until she was kissing him harder than he had kissed her.As bullets chipped the stone under them, Lara pulled back and said softly, "You scared me, Dave."

"You think _you_ were scared?If Laylor hadn't been wearing a parachute, I would've been a lot more scared than I had been...and I was fucking _petrified_!"

"So, what do we do now?"

"Hope they come up after us."David grinned.

Lara looked at him squarely."Did you land on your head as a young boy?"

"Listen, any minute now, they're going to try the stairs..."

"So?"

Daglione watched as the bullets missed their targets and he yelled at his men to stop firing.He looked around and saw two flights of stairs on each side of the entrance, both heading up.He yelled, "You and YOU!Go up there and get them!!"

The bruisers nodded and ran up the stairs on the right.A few seconds later, screams came from that stairwell, stopping suddenly. Boulders, all weighing in at just over a ton and some stained red, rolled down the stairs and crunching into the floor at the bottom.

"So the stairs aren't quite what you'd call...safe," David replied.

The last two thugs looked at Daglione.

"Well, go up the other one, you two!He didn't FLY up there!"

The other two looked at each other, then ran up the other stairs, stopping as they saw one large boulder rolling down the stairs.They screamed and ran down the stairwell, splitting up as they hit the bottom.The huge rock rolled right past them, narrowly missing the pair.

Lara looked down at the rolling boulder._Now THAT brings back memories..."So how do we get down?"_

David stood up and fired a line into the ceiling high above.Lara caught the hint and climbed onto his back, hanging on for dear life as he leaped off the entranceway, swinging across the wide floor of the training area.

Daglione watched this with an all-consuming hatred and drew his shotgun, firing up at them.Lara felt buckshot score her legs and David felt the pouch on his hip rip away._Oh NO! he mentally screamed, reaching down quickly...but not quickly enough.The other Eye dropped out and hit the stone below, bouncing twice before coming to rest on the ground._

Daglione crowed as he ran for the Eye. 

"DAMMIT!!"David cut the line.By this time, they were only ten feet above the ground and they landed hard, but rolled out of the impacts and stood up."I blew it!"

Lara ignored the pain of the thin furrows dug in her thighs by the shotgun blast."We've got to get them back!"

"TOO LATE, FOOLS!!"Daglione held the Eyes aloft and recited an incantation in Hindu, a Call he had learned three years ago and had practiced religiously in anticipation of this day.

Lara recognized the phrases instantly."David, he's calling upon Shiva!"

David backed a step away as Daglione began to grow in size, his skin turning blue._Some Chosen One I was...!!!_"Lara, what do we do?The priests at the temple didn't say what to do next!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I AM CREATED SHIVA, THE DESTROYER...DEATH, THE SHATTERER OF WORLDS....!!!" Daglione/Shiva said, reaching a full height of eighty feet, almost touching the ceiling."ALL SHALL KNEEL BEFORE MY MIGHT...OR PERISH!"

"The priests at the temple, they found me and said I was some kind of Chosen One."David saw Daglione/Shiva pull his hand back, as if about to throw a fastball.He dove behind one of the obstacle course traps while Lara followed suit, rolling to her feet behind a wall.David wasn't quite as agile and skidded to a stop on his rump.

A ball of blue and yellow fire coalesced in Daglione/Shiva's hand and he threw it at the spot where David and Lara had been, exploding and causing a thirty foot crater.

"What did they say?" Lara asked loudly over the roar of the explosion.

David's mind went blank."I can't remember!" 

"TRY!"

"WHERE ARE YOU, CONNORS?" thundered the blue giant."COME OUT SO I CAN DESTROY YOU."

_He really doesn't expect me to just step out and say, "Here I am," does he??David racked his brain."Lara, I can't remember it all!"_

"RUN!!"Lara grabbed his hand and yanked the Yank through the course, moving around Daglione/Shiva's left, trying their best to avoid his gaze."David, I hate to be impolite, but our continued existences now depend on your memory!"

"Wait, wait...they said something about how it's supposed to release Shiva's opposite...!"

Lara stopped behind a case of pikes and hunched down low.David did likewise."Did they mean Kali?" Lara whispered.

"Yeah!" David hissed back."But how does that help us?"

"We've got to go back through that doorway over there!"Lara pointed to the door where she, Daglione and his thugs had come in.

"Oh, man, why didn't you say something BEFORE!We were right there!"

"Daglione wasn't eighty feet tall, then."

David looked across the coliseum."Oh, man, we'll never make it that far with the Not-So-Jolly Blue Giant stomping around!"

"Would you rather stay here and wait for urban renewal?"

David sighed."I knew you were going to say that."

"How much line do you have left on the grapplegun?"

"I dunno...not much left.Why? What have you got in mind?"

Lara smiled."The oldest gag in the book."

Daglione/Shiva searched carefully.He wanted to simply smash everything in sight, but a deep desire to find the two and torture them first made the other desire insignificant by comparison.He tossed and kicked the walls, traps and obstacle structures left and right.Finally, he was down to the last three.Daglione/Shiva smiled."I ALWAYS WAS FOND OF THE OLD SHELL GAME.LET'S SEE..."He brought his right fist down on the right trap, a row of spikes traversing a crawlspace.It splintered into kindling."NO...NOT THERE...MAYBE YOU'RE..."

"Hate to spoil your fun, Daglione, but I'm over here!"

Daglione/Shiva turned to see Lara waving coquettishly from across the stadium, a hundred feet away from the main entrance."I'd love to stay and chat, but I've gotta run!Ciao!"

At that moment, Daglione/Shiva lost his cool.He got up and turned his body to run after Lara.As Lara broke for the entrance, David came out from under the middle structure and fired the grapple gun at Daglione/Shiva's ankles.His heart rose into his throat as he aimed again, this time at the huge statue of Shiva and fired the other end of the line.It snaked through the air and David felt the tug as the grapplegun emptied itself of cord.Without waiting to see the results, he dashed for the entrance along the right wall.

One end wrapped itself around the leg of the Shiva statue...and the other end....

Daglione/Shiva's eyes went wide in surprise as he felt his legs wrapped together.The force of his stride broke the cord almost as soon as it went taut, but the line's strength was enough to halt the forward motion of his feet and he tripped, falling face-down, his arms outstretched.Lara and David looked up to see Daglione/Shiva's head come crashing down.

Lara dove for the entrance as the giant's face hit the floor, causing a tremendous BOOM that reverberated through the cavern. A cloud of dust filled the stadium and David coughed, "LARA!LARA!!!"Where is she...!?!?

A smaller coughing reached his ears and he silently sent a "thank you" skywards."Lara!! Are you alright??"

"Define: alright," Lara coughed.David ran around the stunned giant's head to see Lara lying just in front of the divot created by Daglione/Shiva's jaw.The dirt pushed up by the impact covered Lara's legs, hips and lower back.

"Godammit, Lara!!I didn't think I had enough line for a few seconds...why'd you have to be so close to him before taunting him?Why didn't...?"

"David, you know I care quite deeply about you, don't you?"

"Well...yes."

"Then be a dear and kindly shut up."Lara dusted herself off."We're not finished yet."As if to prove her point, a cloud of dust came up from under Daglione/Shiva's nose."We've got to hurry before he wakes up."

The two of them ran out of the room.A few minutes later, Daglione/Shiva's eyes opened...and burned with hatred...

Lara led David through the passage to the village area."David, give me that lid?"

"Lid?Lid of what?"

"Your headpiece, David."

"Oh."David removed the circlet."What now?"

"Just follow me...I know it's around here somewhere..." she murmured, looking around at the buildings.

"I don't think these people had outhouses, Lara...you should've gone before we left," David joked.

"Sod off," Lara said sweetly in reply, then stopped."Eureka, as Archimedes would say," she said triumphantly as she stepped up to a building and opened the doors, revealing a shrine to the goddess Kali, a four-armed woman with exaggerated assets and a demonic, fanged face.

"You know what 'eureka' really means, don't you?" said David.

"What?"

"'This bath is too hot.'And you a historian."

"That damned defense mechanism of yours is not helping."

A roar of murderous rage suddenly filled the caverns, soon followed by the sounds of racks coming loose."Jesus is coming and is he PISSED," David said worriedly.

Lara climbed up the statue of Kali."Right idea, wrong deity."

"What are you looking for?"

"A keyhole."Lara smiled as she reached the head of Kali.She placed the circlet over the head."David, get ready to run like the dickens!"

"Lara, there'd better be a good explanation forthcoming.Laughing Boy sounds like he'll crunch his way through the wall any second now and he's going to nuke this place when he does!"

That's when Lara realized why David had begun to babble.He was completely unprepared for something like this, people turning into giants, true magical power.Nothing in his experiences had adequately prepared him for the concept of a godling tunneling through rock to get to him."Steady on, Dave...wait for it..."

"Wait for what??"

Lara placed the circlet on Kali's head.She heard a faint click."RUN!!!" she yelled, dropping from the statue and feeling the earth shake under her feet.David staggered to the door and ran out into the cavern just in time to see Daglione/Shiva burst through the wall.His brain starting sending signals to his eyes that basically went something like, "DOES NOT COMPUTE!!!"

Lara had to practically hit him to get him moving again.When his legs did finally start to obey his brain, Daglione had spotted them and his feet moved like never before, propelling David towards the exit.In fact, he was actually beating Lara in a footrace, something that had never happened before.Lara caught up to him as he stooped to pick something up off the floor."This is no time to grab souvenirs, Dave!"

"COOONNNNNNOOOOORRRRRSSSSS!!!!!!!!" Daglione/Shiva bellowed, shaking the cavern further with the force of his voice alone.He began to run towards them, but he, too, was imbalanced by the shaking and had to pause to steady himself every two steps.

David and Lara ran through the city gates and Lara steered David up through the passageway to the exit.He looked back to see the blue giant crash through the wooden gates, then stop as David and Lara passed through the corridor."We made it!" David yelled in relief, then saw Daglione/Shiva reaching through the passageway."You've GOTTA be KIDDING me!!"

"DON'T TALK, RUN!!"Lara tried to pull David ahead, but David reached into his pocket and pulled out something small, throwing it back towards the hand before turning back to run with Lara to the main opening."David, what did you do??"

"I'll tell you if you tell me what's going on!!"

"The priests of Shiva must've been prepared for this, that someone might actually survive the traps and capture the Temple!So they rigged up a shrine to Kali, Shiva's counterpart."

"So?!"

"So when that shrine was opened and Kali crowned with the circlet, it was designed to activate the last trap...one designed to destroy the mountain and take everything inside WITH IT!!"

"I don't get it!Why Kali?Why not a statue of Shiva?"

"Because no devotee of Shiva would ever place such an ornament on Kali, thereby making sure that only an infidel would set off the trap...and if that happened, the acolytes of Shiva were prepared to die rather than be taken, so they figured that they'd either be dead or would wish to be!"Lara turned left down a hallway, leading to the foyer were the chalice and platter rested.The corpse in the grip of the statue was starting to smell."Now, your turn.What did you throw at Daglione?"

"Something to keep him busy."David brought out the object he'd picked up, the trigger box Daglione had used to coerce Lara."Would you care to do the honors?"

Lara smiled, snatching the box out of his hand."Gladly!"She pressed the button.

Daglione/Shiva reached as far as he could, beginning to push through the wall when the wad of plastic explosive underneath his hand went off, mangling the hand and caving in the tunnel, trapping his arm underneath tones of rock.The giant's howl of pain was soon lost as the final trap began to collapse the rest of the temple around him.Cracks and fissures opened underneath his legs, and deep within the mountain, magma began to bubble up towards the town.

Lara dropped the device."A small pleasure, but we can't dawdle around here much longer!Soon this whole mountain is going to fall apart!"

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me, David, I've been in an exploding mountain before.Remind me to tell you about Atlantis sometime!"She looked down the hallway flanked by the statues."Blast!David, I want you to run next to me as fast as you can!"With that, she took off down the hallway, David hot on her heels.

As they passed the statues, they came to life, their arms swinging their weapons around in deadly arcs.David ducked as an ax came close to decapitating him and found the strength to speed up."Lara, how do we climb down??"

"We don't!!"Lara stepped out into open space and David jumped out after her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" they yelled as they fell, a blast of smoke spouting from the opening they had just left.They dropped into the snowbank below, stunned, but alive and unhurt.Lara got to her feet quickly.

"Come ON, Dave!"

"What, aren't we....???"David felt the ground underneath beginning to throb."Aw, NO!!!"

"This way!!"Lara ran off down the path, ignoring the cold.David followed right after her, struggling to get through the snow.As he ran, he felt the sickening lurches of the mountain starting to come apart underneath them.

By the time they got to Daglione's base camp, the crack of glacial ice coming apart was deafening."Lara, we're running out of time here!I hope you have a plan!!"

"I do!"She went to one of the boxes and tore off the lid.

"There's something in that box we can use?"

"No."

"Then what are you...?"David saw Lara put the lid on the snow."Please tell me that you're kidding!"

"Get on, David!"

"Oh, man, this is a _huge_ mistake...this is a really HUGE MISTAKE!" he cried, getting on the lid with Lara.She pushed off and let gravity take over.They started off slow, then picked up speed as they headed down the steep slope.David hung on tight as Lara shifted her weight, moving from side to side to steer the improvised toboggan away from rocks.

As they plummeted down the slope, David felt a shuddering behind him and looked back up the mountain slope.To his dismay, he discovered that the slope was chasing him!"AVALANCHE!!!!" David yelled over the roar of the disturbance behind him, then looked back again to see how close the avalanche was to them.

The tons of snow following them was only the least of their worries.

The peak of the mountain sunk deep into the rock, then the entire mountain began to crumble from the top, progressing down the slope.The mountain itself was falling!

Lara knew what was going on; the destructive ways of the priests' were legendary."JUST HANG ON AND DON'T LOOK BACK!!!" she yelled, but the roar of the mountain's fall was so deafening that David only barely heard her.It wouldn't have mattered anyways; David had already looked behind her and was now unable to tear his eyes away from the sight.The avalanche was moving just as fast as they were, now; the implosion of the mountain caused enough shifting in the rock below that the snow was actually slowed by the massive quake.The danger of being buried in ice and snow was still quite apparent; Lara was fighting with all her strength to keep the improvised sled from tipping over from all the shaking and moving about.

Lara saw a thick forest coming up towards them and yelled back, "GET READY TO RUN!"

"ARE YOU NUTS??!??" David asked.

They entered the forest, thick trees whipping past them."JUMP!" Lara yelled and they bailed out, rolling in the snow.Lara recovered first, running over to where David was half-buried in the snow."COME ON, DAVID!" she screamed, and that's when the mountain blew.

A thick cloud of dust and ash billowed into the air, blocking out the sun in seconds. 

David shook himself."Geez, and to think I used to pay money to go on rides like that..."

"A marvelous observation, Dave, but could we possibly discuss it later?"Lara took off her backpack and pulled out two canteens."Fill them with snow, quickly!"

"Why?"

"With all the sulfurous ash coming down, the snow will soon be too acidic to use.We've got a long run ahead of us and we're going to need the water!"

David looked up as red trails of lava began flowing out of the wide crater."Putting the circlet on Kali did all THAT??"

"Precisely."Lara filled up her canteen first and put in her backpack."Hurry, David...the aftershocks will be here any moment.I don't think Mother Earth has finished her lambada here."

David filled up the other canteen.The cold was only just now starting to get to him and the last thing he wanted to do was wait around."How far is the nearest town?"

"I don't know...we'll have to see.I might be able to get some bearings once we get out from under the cloud."Lara shouldered her pack.Let's get going."

Hours later, after a not-so-brisk run in the snow, Lara finally pronounced themselves safe.David looked around at the jagged peaks and the ice shelf they were currently occupying, then back up at the angry cloud behind them.The mountain had dropped into a crater the size of a small city, bubbling with hot lava."What'll happen to that place?" David wondered aloud through chattering teeth.

"Oh, it'll smoke and burn for a while...then the cold will harden the lava into volcanic rock, putting a lid on the place for good.Maybe some earthquakes as it ticks over somewhat, but on the whole, the world won't really notice."

"I can't believe you look so comfortable...it's freezing out here and you look like you're getting ready for a backyard barbecue..."David watched as Lara pulled out a small satellite dish and a laptop."What ARE you doing, by the way?"

"Hailing a taxi," Lara grinned."Here, David, take the thermal tent out of my backpack and set up the stove, won't you?I'd very much like to get warmer than I am now, and I imagine that you'll desire the same."

David picked up her backpack and his eyes widened in surprise as he felt how HEAVY it was.It was also able to carry a large amount of equipment, as David soon discovered."Inflatable thermal tent?Compressed air pump?Solar battery?Good Lord, Lara...I thought Doug gave ME all the neat toys."

"You're not the only one who likes shopping at The Sharper Image, you know.These days, my line of work demands that I stay ahead of the technology curve.Besides, I've been up here before..."Lara looked around through her granny-glasses.David was mildly surprised that she hadn't lost it in the ride down the mountain."And after that experience, I take every advantage I can get, but I don't allow myself to become totally dependent upon them."

"Smart..."David finished reading the instructions and secured the tent to the shelf with pitons.He inflated it with the compressor, hurrying to keep from freezing.His fingers and toes were already numb."Air-filled floor, too...that'll beat trying to sleep on this ice cube."

"Done."Lara closed the laptop quickly and hurried inside the tent, grabbing her pack en route."I e-mailed a friend of mine in Hong Kong.We chatted for a bit, and he'll be coming by to pick us up in seven hours."Lara rapidly set up the gas lamp and lit it, letting the warmth spread through the tent.

"Good!"David finished the inflation and fairly jumped inside, taking off his snow laden boots and socks."Ahhh...now that's nice," he said, the warmth from the sun and the lamp already transforming the four-man tent into a practical sauna compared to the frigid environment outside the tent."Cozy."

"Well, this does leave us with a problem...mainly, what to do until Liu Wong gets here."

David smiled slightly."Well," he said jokingly, "if it weren't for the fact that this place will be pretty warm, I would've suggested an alternate method of creating heat."

"And that would be...?"

"Well...." David suddenly felt nervous."...uhm..."

"Let me guess.Shagging each other for a few hours?"

"Huh?"

"'Shagging' is another way of saying 'fucking'," Lara said as if answering the question, "Do you have the time?"

David turned as red as a Washington apple.Lara saw his face and laughed musically."Your face is turning the most delightful shade of red."

"Oh, I'm SO happy that you find me so amusing," David answered sarcastically and turned around to hide his furious blush.

"Oh, Dave, I'm only teasing."She moved closer behind him and wrapped her arms around him, laying her head on his shoulder."I know how you feel, David.I do know, because I feel it, too.But I don't want to rush anything.I learned a long time ago that sex involves a great deal of commitment to someone..."

"Are you saying that you're not committed to me?" David asked haltingly.

"If you mean, am I interested in someone else?No, David...there isn't anyone else that I feel that way about now.But it's not something I want to get into quickly, or casually.I want to be sure that I'm ready before I give that part of myself to you.That's a very intimate part of me, David...how would you feel if I gave it to you right now?Be honest."

"Well, I'd feel pretty good for a while..."

"A long while?"

"Yeah."

"And after?"

"After?"David stopped."I don't know..."

"Precisely.Where would we go from there?If we don't have an answer for that, David, then we're not ready for it yet."

"Okay, okay, I concede defeat," sighed David as he felt her pull away from him."I just can't help it sometimes, Lara.You're a helluva lady and there's so much about you that turns me on."

"Besides this?"

David turned around and was rewarded with the sight of Lara Croft in her birthday suit."Uh...Lara?What are you doing?"

"We may not be ready for sex just yet, David...but there's nothing I'd rather do right now than to feel you close to me.Very close.But remember, David...no hanky-panky."Lara waggled a finger at him."Promise?"

"If I can't promise, does that mean you're putting your clothes back on?"

"Right the first time."

David considered."All right.But I gotta tell you, this is a new experience with me."

"Getting naked with a woman, David?" Lara asked as David stripped himself of his own clothes."Somehow, I thought you'd be more worldly than that."

"Oh, I am, believe me...it's just that I've never gotten naked with a woman WITHOUT doing anything sexual."

"In that case, David, you're in for a real treat."Lara watched him remove his clothes.When he was completely nude, Lara had to expend a great deal of self-restraint to keep from changing her mind.David was a remarkable specimen of a man, after all, and she felt a delicious chill run down her spine at the thought of feeling all those muscles against her bare body."Now, come over here..."

Hours later, the helicopter came over the southwestern peaks and saw the bright orange tent sitting there like an Easter egg on the field of white.Liu started looking for a safe place to set down, but came up empty.He switched on the PA system."Lara?" he called, adjusting the volume to its lowest point to avoid triggering an avalanche, "Are you out there?"

A bare woman's arm stuck itself out of the tent and waved.

"Glad to see you're still in one piece, Lara," Liu said with a smile."I'm lowering the rope."

The hand on the end of the arm held up five fingers, then five fingers again.

"This isn't a bus, Lara...I don't have that kind of fuel capacity."

The hand dropped, then reluctantly held up a finger.

Liu smiled._Geez, why would anyone want to STAY up here?_

Another arm, a thicker male arm, pulled her hand back inside.

Liu smiled knowingly._Too bad, Lara...but at least you're coming down from the Himalayas with someone instead of alone, this time.About time, too.I was beginning to think you were practicing to be a nun or something.With that, Liu sat and held the helicopter steady, watching the tent with a grin.__I can't WAIT to hear the explanation for this one..._


	7. Revenge, Part One: Best Served Cold

Revenge, Part I: Best Served Cold

By C. Mage and Sarah Crisman

** **

** **

"Mail call!" David yelled as he closed the door.

Lara moved down the stairs, stopped halfway and vaulted sideways, landing on one of the boxes in the main foyer.As soon as she touched down, she vaulted forward, then right, then forward, then left and then forward to the floor below.David walked in and checked his watch."Six seconds flat.Looks like the ankle is fully back to normal."

Lara wiped her brow; she had been going through her gymnastics routine in the Music Room and was still cooling down."Thanks.Keeping the boxes in the hall wasn't a bad idea, David.I don't have too many visitors and the training does come in handy.What's in the mail?"

"Let's see...."David shuffled through the stack of magazines."Archaeological Quarterly, The Historical Herald, Smithsonian, Guns & Ammo, American Handgunner..."He handed them over to Lara, who took them with great interest."...bill, bill..."

"Anything else?"

David pulled out some junk mail and two envelopes."Looks like an invitation."

"Well, don't keep me in suspense, David.Who's it for?"

"You.Says here, 'Lara Croft and Friend, you are cordially invited to view the recent discoveries of the Scions of Atlantis."

"WHAT??"Lara dropped the magazines and nearly yanked the invitation out of David's hands.  
"That's what it says.According to this, someone found the original Scion, as well as several other artifacts from the ruins of the Atlantean pyramid...careful, Lara, you'll rip it!"

She read further."Damien Powers?!?Why, that wretch...!"

"Youknow the guy?"

"Another competitor...he knows little to NOTHING about archaeology, but he's an ongoing student of Money-Grubbing 101.His only interest in artifacts is what they will bring on the open market or the black market.The fact that HE, of all people, found them....!!"Lara shook the thought off as too intolerable to complete."He probably wants to rub my nose in it, the swine."

"Then don't go."

"I HAVE to go.I can't sit here, wondering if that opportunist has the actual Scion.I thought I'd destroyed it, but then, I thought I'd destroyed Natla soon after and SHE survived."Lara sat down on one of the boxes."When and where is the showing?"

"It's up in the Ural Mountains, in Russia, at some place called Dosknaya..."

"Sounds like his style...he likes remote places."

"And the showing is in two days...at midnight."

"That's Powers, all right.He has this annoying sense of drama."Lara got up."All right, David, get packed.We're going to Russia.Pack warmly.At this time of year, dawn won't be showing up in Russia for another four months, and it's going to be cold."

"Russia..."David stared off into space.

"Is something wrong?"

"Huh?Oh...well, let's just say that I had a few bad experiences with the Russian Mafia."

"For a 'scumbag detective,' you certainly get around.How did you get involved with them?"

"I was tracking down what I thought was a drug smuggling operation, but as it turned out, drugs were only a small part of the operation."

"What was the main part?"

"Biological weapons."David noted Lara's surprised look."Yeah, they're not too fond of me right now."

"I can imagine.Alright, I'll make the arrangements and make sure to keep your name out of it.But we're going to have to make separate arrangements."

"What for?"

"Dave...we have to be discreet about our relationship.We don't want people trying to get to one of us through the other.We seem to have amassed some bitter enemies the last couple of years, you know."

"Yeah...makes sense.But I don't have to like it."

"Let me put it to you this way.We can always keep the cold away at Dosknaya by snuggling close to each other..."Lara smiled seductively.

"Right, I'll go pack now," David said quickly and walked to the stairs.

Lara called up to David as he climbed the stairs to the second floor, "Just to make sure there's no problems, David, I'll set up a fake ID for you so we won't attract any unwanted guests at Dosknaya."

"Got it."David went to his room and Lara began preparations for her flight and David's flight.

Lara sat back in her seat and smiled._Now this is how I like to get to Russia.The plan was bypassing Moscow and heading for the city of Nizniy Novgorod.It was an industrial city, known for automotive and shipbuilding, so Lara knew that there was going to be at least ONE flight into there nonstop.When she got off the plane, Natalya was waiting for her._

Unlike a lot of Lara's friends, Natalya was not interested in archaeology in the least.Her forte was computers, mainly getting them into Russia and to most of the common folk.She was responsible for bringing IBMs to many of the schools in Western Russia, in a small way.After all, since capitalism had won over Communism by default, developers were moving into Russia by the trainload.Natalya was a smuggler before the wall went down, and had gotten involved with Lara when the young archaeologist was trapped behind the Berlin Wall.Natalya had gotten her out and they kept in touch ever since.By the time the Wall was remade into souvenirs, Natalya had amassed enough money to hire a few ex-KGB operatives and keep her business going on a legitimate level.For a time, Lara had had to fend off Natalya romantically; traumatic experiences with her father had made Natalya scared to death of being vulnerable to a man, and so had adopted her new lifestyle easily as she surrounded herself with capable, as well as attractive, female operatives.

"Lara!Over here!"

Lara smiled as she saw her old friend."Natalya!It is good to see you!I thought you were in Smolensk."

"Well, I received an invitation to a party and I was told that you would be there.Do you know who's throwing this little bash?"Natalya said in her thick accent.

"Not a clue...how are you involved with Damien Powers?"

"I did some work for him a few years ago.I liberated some artifacts from disposal by a museum in Leningrad...I mean, St. Petersburg.Sorry, Lara...I can never seem to make the change.To me, my hometown will always be Leningrad."

"You mean, you stole some goods and smuggled them out of the country."

"To-MA-to, to-MAH-to..." Natalya shrugged."What brings you here alone?"

"Powers claims he has the Scion of Atlantis, as well as some other artifacts.That Scion is dangerous, believe me...the thought of that bloody amateur monkeying with it...!"Lara shivered, and not from the intense cold.She looked up into the darkness."Looks like foul weather...will we make it before the storm gets worse?"

"Yes...we have a long way to drive, but we should get there by tomorrow.A friend of mine has a truck waiting for us in Pechora, equipped with treads.They'll get us up the pass to Dosknaya."

_Tomorrow..._"Can't we get there sooner?"

"What's the rush?"

"Nothing...it's just that I'm meeting someone there."

Natalya smiled."Is he nice?"

"You have no idea...I'll tell you all about him on the way up," she added as she climbed into the car.

David looked around the airport in Moscow."Damn damn damn.The plane's going to be late."

"Rogers!"

David remembered to turn at the mention of his alias."Yeah?"

"Got plane for you.Runway Six.You coming?"

"Music to my ears.Let's go."He grabbed his suitcase and walked with the short pilot to a beat-up plane that looked like it had been made in the fifties and hadn't been serviced since the seventies.The music turned to a funeral march."You're SHITTING me....!"

"No, I am not shitting on you.Come, we go now.Don't worry, we'll be fine."

David sighed."NEXT TIME, Lara, I make the travel arrangements."

"Really?You had Krokov fly him??"Natalya began to laugh merrily, joining Lara in mirth.

"I wish I could see the look on his face when he sees Krokov's plane!" Lara laughed, tears making her eyes blink."He'll never forgive me, I can tell."

"Don't worry, Lara.Krokov is an excellent pilot and his plane is sturdier than Russian bear.David will be fine."

"I know that, and you know that...but if I know Krokov, he's giving David quite a ride!!"Lara collapsed in laughter.

_I'm going to KILL her....David groused as the plane rattled and dipped around in the sky.Even though it had risen above the storm clouds, the plane just never seemed to give up and fly straight.__I know__ she did this to me on purpose...she's just doing this to get to me._

"HOW YOU DOING?"Krokov yelled back, playing his "dumb Russian with small grasp of English" part to the hilt.

"I'M GOING TO THROW UP!!!"David yelled back over the noise.

"GOOD!!EAT HEARTY!!" Krokov replied and turned his attentions back to the flight.

"Do you see him?"Lara asked Natalya as they waited at Pechora.

"No...this infernal storm is picking up.I hope they make it in...wait!"Natalya lowered her binoculars."I see him!"

"Where?"

"Three-thirty,"she said, pointing to her right.Lara looked and saw the plane touching down...or, more appropriately, slamming down."He's okay.Now remember, you know nothing about any of this."

"You think I am a fool, darlink?"Lara said, imitating a Russian conspiratorial accent, then made her face deadpan as the plane braked, then spun around and traveled the rest of the way down the runway...BACKWARDS.

Inside the plane, David ran up to the pilot's seat, worried that something had happened to him."Hey, pal, you okay?"

Krokov looked up and grinned."Of course!I always land plane this way!"

Lara and Natalya got up to the plane as David opened the door and ran down the steps, nearly crashing into the two ladies at the bottom.David's face was frozen in panic.Lara couldn't resist."David, I'm so sorry," she said, not meaning a word, "I heard too late that the pilot I had requested had gotten injured and sent his brother in his place, I'm so sorry...are you alright?"

In the face of such concern, David's rage dissipated."Let's just get out of here."

"Certainly.David, this is Natalya.Natalya, this is David."

The Russian woman took one look at David and immediately wondered if she should re-think her position on men.She shook herself and said, "Welcome to Russia, David Connors."

"Oh, I feel _so_ welcome."He grabbed his suitcase, his impatient breath showing in the cold."Let's get moving."

"David!"

"Sorry, Lara...nice to meet you, Natalya."David managed a smile and headed for cover.When they got inside the depot, Natalya led them to a treaded truck and smiled.

"This should get us to Dosknaya, storm or no storm.Everyone in!"

Lara and David stowed their luggage and got in, finding the cab to be nice and warm.As Lara snuggled up to David, she decided that she wasn't going to pull a trick like that on David again...unless he deserved it.

With that to comfort her, she slept all the way up to the house.

"This is IT??"

Lara awoke at the sound of David's disbelief and sat up, rubbing her eyes."Are we there yet?"

"You tell me."

Lara awoke to see a blizzard-swept lake, with a long bridge leading from the edge of the lake all the way to an island in the middle of the lake.On that lonely island sat a mansion, barely big enough to fit on the island...and it was a rather big island.Even so, the wrought-iron fence ran all the way around the edge of the island, ending only at the gates just on the other side of the bridge.

"This guy must enjoy his privacy...."David looked at the bridge."I don't think the truck will make it across this bridge.We'll have to walk in."

"More likely we'll have to run in," Lara added.

"Da."Natalya put on her coat and looked at her watch."We've still got a few hours until the showing.Let's get into the house before we freeze.And let's hurry."

Lara and David nodded, bundling themselves into their cold-weather gear and grabbing their suitcases.David hissed as the frigid air hit his face and he squinted."GEEZ!!"

"COME ON!" Natalya yelled over the howling wind and moved off across the snow.Luckily, the snow wasn't too deep and they made it across the mile-long bridge quickly.With the run keeping them warm, they got through the gates and into the courtyard.

They moved through the wide courtyard and stopped on the steps going up to the mansion.Lara looked around at the cars parked on the far side of the courtyard, five of them total.There was even a pair of helicopters on a twin helipad beyond the cars."Looks like we're not the only ones here!Damien Powers must be really ready to gloat tonight!"

"Forget about that!Let's just get inside!Jeez...it must be ninety below out!!!"David yelled back.They went up to the double doors and opened them, moving inside rapidly and shoving the doors closed, fighting the wind every inch of the way.When the doors were closed, David relaxed a bit, feeling the heat of the house warm him."Aaaaahh...now THAT'S how I spell relief."

As they savored the warmth, they heard a small, feminine voice behind them."Mama...?"

Natalya suddenly spun around, her eyes going wide as she saw the young girl."Ludmilla???"She ran to pick her up, holding her close, then moved her hands over her."Ludmilla, what are you doing here??I thought you were in school!"

"Who's Ludmilla?" David asked as he shuffled off his parka.

"That's Natalya's daughter!!"

"Mama..." She spoke in Russian, tears falling down her cheeks, then embraced Natalya strongly.She held her daughter close, then turned to Lara."What's going on here?"

"What happened?I don't know Russian," David asked Lara.

"Ludmilla was taken from her school by two men who said they were taking her to see her mother."Lara looked around."Something is very wrong here."

"I'm hip.Maybe some of the other guests have some idea what's going on."David looked deeper into the mansion."I hear noise coming from that way.Let's go."David, Lara and Natalya walked towards the noise, Ludmilla carried in her mother's arms.

They walked to a set of doors with a great many loud voices shouting in Russian, American and other languages."Sounds like the U.N. in there," David remarked as he opened the door.

Beyond the doors was a ballroom, complete with a long buffet table and a piano in a far corner.The ballroom was occupied by ten people, all shouting at each other.The shouting stopped when the doors opened and David entered.

One of them, a well-built man with a very superior air about him, strode over to David."Are YOU our mystery host??"

"ME?No, I just got here myself.What is...?"His voice stopped as he locked eyes with a man to his right."Lara, Natalya, take Ludmilla out of here NOW!"

"What?" Natalya asked as the man David had seen walked over to him.

"Well, well...David Connors," said the man, dressed in an expensive suit and sporting a gold Rolex."Man, it's been a long time since I've seen you.How's the wife and kid??"

David _roared_ and flung himself at the man like a mad panther, bearing him to the floor.Lara and another man struggled to break them apart."David!! David, stop it this instant!!"

"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!!!"David screamed as Lara and Natalya both kept him from going through with his words.Ludmilla began to cry.

"What has come over you, David!?Who is this man?"

"Allow me to introduce myself," said the stranger, straightening his suit."I am Nicholas Maas.I'm a businessman in New York..."

"You're a _LYING, MURDERING, CHILD-RAPING MONSTER!!" David spat._

"Sorry, Davey, but I was found innocent by a jury of my peers, remember?I was acquitted."Nicholas smiled."I used to work for some interesting people."

"As did I."Another man stepped forward, a black man wearing a sweatshirt and jeans."Hello, Lara."

"Georges?What are you doing here?"  
"I was invited.Someone sent me an invitation, a Mr. Damien Powers.Said he had something of interest to me concerning my parents.But I have not seen him."

"I received an invitation, too," Nicholas said angrily."Powers told me he had evidence proving my guilt in that case and threatened to re-open it.I've had enough problems trying to clear my name without some loser trying to throw me back into the clink."

"Hold it, hold it.David, are you going to control yourself?" Lara asked. 

David growled agreement and stopped straining against the grips on his arms.

"Good.Alright...let's try to sort this out.Each of you in turn tell me who you are and what your business is with Mr. Powers...and please, no falsehoods.There are no police here and no one will try to arrest you."She turned to the woman on her left."You first."

"My name is Camilla Richards," said the redhead, a willowy figure wearing a stark black evening gown."Some very valuable items were stolen from me a long time ago in New York and Damien Powers told me that if he would meet with me, he would tell me where they were."

"What was the nature of these items?" Lara asked.

"They were diamonds...rare, precious stones that had been in my family for years."

Lara nodded, turning to the man next to her, a Japanese gentleman wearing a modest suit with a red tie."And you, sir?"

"I am Renegaru Shike.I work for the Yakuza in Los Angeles, as an assassin, a ninja.I came here because Damien Powers told me that he had a job for me, the nature of which I have yet to know.He sent enough money to cover the cost of the travel here and a down payment of one million dollars.I took his offer as serious, but I have yet to meet him."

David narrowed his eyes, but Lara continued on to the old woman wearing a shawl and a simple thick dress."And you, Madame?"

"I am Lucinda of the Morah clan.My clan's most valued treasure, the Morah Scimitar, was stolen centuries ago by bandits.Powers has told me that he has found the sword.I am here to retrieve my clan's property."

"The Morah clan...I have heard of you.Gypsies," Natalya said in recognition.

"Yes."

"Curiouser and curiouser..."Lara went to the next, a young man in his early twenties, well dressed and confident."And you?"

"I came here to get my property back, too," he said brashly."I'm Jason Witherton the Third, and I came here to get something...personal...from Damien Powers.And no, I'm not going to tell you what it is.That is between me and Powers."

Lara said, "Under the circumstances, Mr. Witherton, you don't have much of a choice.You don't want to look suspicious, do you?" 

Jason paled, then said in a lower voice, "Powers is blackmailing me.I suppose you want me to tell you what I'm being blackmailed for, do you?"

"You don't need to."David was much calmer now."You're under investigation by Interpol regarding your connections with the Colombians.Powers must have something on you."

Jason Witherton III was silent.

Lara decided it was time to move on."And you, miss?" she asked a stunning brunette."Wait, I know you." Her voice grew harsh."You commissioned the Anderson dig in the Valley of the Kings."

"I don't know what you're talking about.I'm a supermodel; I'm only interested in young things."She smiled winningly at David.

"Nikki Therese...yes, I know you now.Your cutthroat dealings cost the lives of the entire archaeological crew there.You killed them all and stole the treasures for yourself."

"I was never connected with that disastrous project."

"Oh?I'll bet the mansion and the lake that Powers has info connecting you to that.You'll have a lot of money to pay, a lot of families to apologize to and a great many questions that the authorities will want to ask you."Lara's voice was colder than the weather outside.

"Don't be absurd," Nikki said, but her voice was smaller.

"We'll see."She turned to the next gentleman, a marginally overweight Russian in a cheap suit and black boots."And you are...?"

"Dmitri Orumov."

Both Dmitri and Lara looked at David, who had spoken the name."You know me?" Dmitri asked with great interest.

"Yeah.Remember three years ago?You tried to pick up some merchandise from the U. S. government that you weren't supposed to?"

Dmitri's eyes narrowed."so _you're_ the one...well, it seems that I would like to speak to you later about that matter."

"Using what?Your Makarov?"

"No gunplay, I assure you.After all, it was a business venture, like any other."Dmitri was apparently unruffled by the idea of spending some time with the person who cost him thirty million dollars, American.

"Business, maybe, but not like any other.The Russian Mafia is hardly part of the American business community."

"You'd be surprised.In any case, we won't quibble.I was brought here under the impression that this Powers person could help me recover the money I lost in that operation.Needless to say, I was interested."

"I'll bet."

"David, can we get on with this?" Lara asked pleasantly.She turned to the next individual...or rather, individuals.They were a set of twin Norwegian females, both incredibly beautiful...but they had one slight defect.They each bore scars running down their faces, starting just above the eye and going down through the eye and ending an inch or two below the eye.One had the scar over the left eye, the other, the right, like mirror images."And who might you two be?"

"We're Doria and Darlene Falkner.We were asked here by someone claiming to know the identities of our parents.We recently discovered each other in Saudi Arabia after we had been bought," said the twin on the left.

"White slavery. How nice." Lara looked disgusted.

"It's alright.The experiences weren't that bad...but according to the man who purchased us years ago, he said that our parents had sold us to him, for reasons he never divulged," continued the woman on the right."He gave us these scars as a way of marking us, to be certain which was which."The right twin discussed this with a pleasant air and Lara got the uncomfortable feeling that these two enjoyed their servitude.

"So whom is whom?"

"I'm Doria," said the one with the scar over her left eye.

"I'm Darlene," said the one with the scar over her right eye.

"Right."Lara looked around the room."All of us have apparently been given an offer impossible to refuse and brought here to a remote area.Lovely."She checked her watch."Well, whoever wants to leave, you'd better do it soon...the weather around here promises to be rather harsh.Otherwise, we'll just have to wait and see if Damien Powers actually drops in to explain himself."

"Sounds like a wonderful idea."Georges looked around."Besides, I'm starting to doubt that Powers really can come through on his promise.With such a variety of stories going around, I think we were brought here for some other purpose."

Suddenly, they heard explosions outside.Jason ran to the window and looked out through the snow."Well, don't look now, but that option ain't available any more!Somebody dynamited the bridge!!"

"What??"David ran to the window and peered out.Sure enough, the bridge had been reduced to two stumps of burning wood at the banks of the lake and the island."Son of a...!"

"Now what?Doria asked. "Can't we go across the ice?"

"I DON'T RECOMMEND IT."Everyone looked around as a synthesized voice boomed through the room.

"Who is this??"Nicholas demanded.

"PLEASE PROCEED TO THE DINING ROOM."

"And if we don't?"Nicholas asked.

"THEN YOU'LL NEVER FIND OUT WHAT'S GOING ON."

The room was silent.Dmitri considered."Whoever it is, he's got a point."

The others nodded, walking out, moving respectable distances away from each other.What were once guests were now prisoners, not to mention prisoners with checkered pasts.There was a hint of fear in the air as everyone wordlessly went to the dining room.

The dining room was huge, able to seat an army.However, there were only fourteen places set, each with it's own platter, silverware and placard.David's seat was at the head of the table, with Lara and Natalya's seat close by.Even Ludmilla had her own seat, placard and all.

The voice boomed again."WHEN EVERYONE IS SEATED, I SHALL EXPLAIN WHY I BROUGHT YOU ALL HERE."

David and Lara sat down, checking their chairs first.When the others saw that the chairs weren't booby-trapped, they also sat down.

"NOW THEN...FIRST, DAMIEN POWERS DID INVITE YOU ALL HERE, BUT AT MY BEHEST."

"Where IS our host?" Darlene asked.

"HE'LL BE JOINING YOU SOON."The voice paused."NOW, TO BUSINESS.AS YOU'VE ALL FIGURED OUT, OR WILL FIGURE OUT SOON, ALL OF YOU HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON...AN ASSOCIATION, HOWEVER INDIRECT, WITH EITHER LARA CROFT OR DAVID CONNORS.THE DIRECT ASSOCIATIONS ARE ALREADY CLEAR, BUT THE INDIRECT ONES ARE NOT.FOR INSTANCE, THE TWINS.THEY MIGHT BE INTERESTED TO KNOW THAT THEIR PARENTS WERE ONCE ASSOCIATES OF LARA'S FATHER...AND SUBSEQUENTLY, LARA AS WELL.THEY WERE INFORMATION BROKERS WHO OFTEN SUPPLIED LARA WITH INFORMATION ON PLACES SHE WOULD ENDEAVOR TO EXPLORE...AND PROVIDED SOME OF HER ENEMIES WITH THE INFORMATION AS WELL.HOWEVER, THE MAIN HOOK, AS IT WERE, IS THAT LARA AND THE TWINS DO HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON.THEIR GENETIC STRUCTURE."

Lara blinked."What?How is that possible?"

"A LONG TIME AGO, LARA, WHEN YOU WERE BORN, A SUBSTANTIAL SUPPLY OF YOUR GENETIC MATERIAL WAS SPIRITED AWAY FROM THE HOSPITAL WHERE YOU WERE BORN.THE THIEVES WERE THE TWINS' PARENTS, WHO'D SEEN YOU AS AN INTERESTING GUINEA PIG.THEY TOOK YOUR BLOOD SAMPLES AND WENT TO AN OLD FRIEND OF THEIRS...JACQUELINE NATLA."Lara's eyes widened."I DON'T THINK NATLA EVER KNEW THE TRUE IDENTITY OF THE GENETIC SAMPLES' OWNER, ALTHOUGH I'M SURE SHE WOULD'VE BEEN INTERESTED.NATLA, IN EXCHANGE FOR SOME NEEDED INFORMATION FROM THE PARENTS, TOOK THE SAMPLES AND CREATED TWINS FROM THE CODE, BUT NOT UNTIL AFTER SHE'D MADE SOME DISTINCT CHANGES.YOU SEE, NATLA HAD HER OWN AGENDA AND SAW THE TWINS AS A MEANS TO MAKE SOME CHANGES OF HER OWN.SHE INSTILLED IN THEM CERTAIN...BIOLOGICAL QUIRKS.PSYCHOLOGICAL ONES, I BELIEVE.CERTAIN AFFECTATIONS TOWARD MASOCHISM AND SADISM, PARTICULARLY MASOCHISM.WHEN THE TWINS' PARENTS FOUND OUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED, THE HEARTLESS CREATURES STOPPED THINKING OF THEM AS THEIR CHILDREN (AN IDEA, I HEAR, THAT WASN'T TOO FIRM TO BEGIN WITH) AND SOLD THEM OFF TO ONE OF THEIR ARABIAN CONTACTS IN PAYMENT FOR SOME VALUABLE INFORMATION.ALL THAT NATLA HAD PLANNED IN ADVANCE.PITY SHE NEVER SAW THE RESULTS OF HER EXPERIMENTATION."

Doria and Darlene remained quite calm, even smiling at some points in the conversation, making some of the other guests feel decidedly on edge.

"AS FOR JAMES WITHERTON THE THIRD.REMEMBER THAT INVESTIGATION IN PROGRESS?GUESS WHO WAS THE STELLAR DETECTIVE THAT FIGURED IT ALL OUT?"James looked hollowly at David."YES.DAVID CONNORS WAS THE ONE WHO BROKE YOUR COVER DURING ONE OF HIS CASES AS A PRIVATE DETECTIVE.ALMOST.HE NEVER KNEW WHO THE TRUE IDENTITY OF THE JACKAL WAS, ONLY THAT HE WAS THE ONE IN CHARGE."

David looked back at James."So YOU'RE the Jackal."Jason glared at David.

"MY, HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN.WOULDN'T YOU AGREE, MR. RENEGARU?"

"I might...if I knew what you were talking about," Shike answered dryly in English.

"YOURS IS A MORE SIMPLE ASSOCIATION.YOU WERE ASKED BY LUCINDA TO COME HERE BECAUSE I TIPPED HER OFF THAT LARA CROFT HAD THE SCIMITAR AND HAD STOLEN IT FROM THE GRAVESITE OF THE BANDITS THAT HAD TAKEN THE BLADE.DESPITE YOUR OLD-WORLD DEMEANOR AND DRESS, YOU'RE QUITE A POWERFUL WOMAN...SINCE YOU PRESIDE OVER A CLAN OF SMUGGLERS."

"That is a LIE!"Lucinda bellowed."I am humble..."

"SAVE IT FOR SOMEONE WHO TAKES YOUR 'HUMBLE TRADITIONAL GYPSY BULL SERIOUSLY.LARA DOES NOT HAVE THE SCIMITAR.A LITTLE FABRICATION ON MY PART.SHE DOES, HOWEVER, HOLD THE DIAMONDS THAT CAMILLA RICHARDS PRIZE SO HIGHLY.THEY WEREN'T YOURS, CAMILLA, NOR WERE THEY YOUR FAMILY'S.THEY WERE BURIED IN AN AFRICAN TOMB IN ZAIRE, BUT LARA CROFT GOT TO THEM BEFORE YOU COULD.YOU DIDN'T KNOW UNTIL NOW THAT LARA WAS THE CULPRIT, ONLY THAT YOU HAD BEEN DENIED OF YOUR PRIZE...SOMETHING THAT YOUR MONSTROUS EGO COULDN'T ACCEPT."

Camilla silently fumed.

"NICHOLAS, YOU ALREADY KNOW ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS WITH THE SEVENTEEN YOUNG GIRLS YOU KIDNAPPED, RAPED AND THEN SOLD.FEAR NOT.THERE IS NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO CONVICT YOU; YOU MADE SURE OF THAT.SO DAVID'S HOPE THAT YOU WILL FINALLY BE SENT TO JAIL OR THE GAS CHAMBER IS FUTILE...BUT IT WAS A GOOD ENOUGH BIT OF INCENTIVE, WASN'T IT?"

"Get to the point, Mr. Mystery Man."

"BELIEVE ME, I AM.LAST, BUT NOT LEAST, LUDMILLA.YOU WERE A LITTLE EXTRA, JUST THAT LITTLE PIECE OF LAGNIAPPE THAT WOULD WORK TO KEEP NATALYA HERE."

Ludmilla started to cry and Natalya held her close.

"NOW THEN...ON TO THE REASON WHY I BROUGHT YOU ALL HERE.IT'S QUITE SIMPLE, REALLY.ALL OF YOU ARE GOING TO DIE HERE."

The murmuring of some of the other guests ceased.

"IT'S QUITE SIMPLE, REALLY.ALL OF YOU HERE HAVE EMBARRASSED OR THWARTED ME AT SOME TIME OR ANOTHER.THE ICE OUTSIDE IS MINED; THEIR PROXIMITY FUSES HAVE JUST BEEN ACTIVATED.ANYONE TRYING TO CROSS THE ICE WILL BE LUCKY IF THEY ARE MERELY BLOWN APART BY THE MINES...PREFERABLE TO A SLOW, LINGERING DEATH IN THE ICY WATER BELOW.THANKS TO THE BLIZZARD, A NICE TOUCH OF DELIGHTFUL HAPPENSTANCE, ALL ATTEMPTS TO USE RADIOS OR CELLULAR PHONES WILL MEET WITH NOTHING BUT STATIC.THE BRIDGE IS COMPLETELY GONE, AS YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY SEEN.WE SHALL PLAY A LITTLE GAME, YOU AND I.WE SHALL SEE IF YOU MANAGE TO KILL EACH OTHER BEFORE I CAN GET TO YOU.AND, TO MAKE THINGS INTERESTING, IT'S HIGH TIME YOU MET YOUR 'HOST'."

A motorized cart wheeled into the room, bearing several covered dishes.It stopped next to David.

"YOUR HOST HAS NOW JOINED YOU FOR DINNER.AND FOR NOW, ADIEU.ENJOY YOUR MEAL, AND REMEMBER...WATCH THE STARS."

Time slowed as everyone looked at the covered dishes and platters.David took a deep breath, then slowly reached out, picking up one of the dishes and picking it up, bringing it close to his face.He opened the lid just enough so he could look inside.

David's face turned bone white and he slammed the lid down again, pushing the platter back onto the cart and backing out of his chair.He had seen death before, but this was something so brutal, so alien in its presentation...

"Dave...?!"Lara stood up.

"Don't open those lids...for God's sake, don't even touch them!!" he said in a horror-stricken voice."It's...."

"It's what?"Nicholas asked, his voice wavering.

"...it's him..."

"WHO??"Lara asked.

"DAMIEN, IT'S DAMIEN....!!"

Everyone got out of their seats and backed out of the room, their eyes fixed on the calm, proper cart with its innocent-looking dishes and platters...

David finished pushing the sofa against the door.Lucinda was holding onto her mother with a death-grip, shocked beyond tears, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.

"There!"David sat down on the sofa.

"So what do we do now?"asked Natalya, scared for herself and her daughter beyond words.Her voice was shaking.

"Right.Everyone calm down," Lara said soothingly.

"Calm down??Yeah, RIGHT!" James said sarcastically."Some maniac is trying to cut us up into little pieces and all you can say is 'calm down'???"

"If you want to panic, Mr. Witherton," Nicholas said bitterly, "go do it outside.She's right.If we panic, we're dead for sure.Alive and calm, we might be able to find this guy and take HIM out before he takes US out.First thing we gotta do is accept the fact that we've gotta stick together...yes, David, that means you, too."

"We'll settle our business later, Nicholas," David gritted.

"Count on it, shamus," Nicholas retorted."With that in mind, I say we get some sleep."

"Sleep??Have you lost your mind?With...!" said Camilla.

"As much as I hate to admit it, he's right," David said. "but we all don't go to sleep...we post guards and work in shifts.I can go for another few hours.Four hour shifts, six people for each shift.I'll take the first watch."

Nicholas nodded."I'll take the next watch.Who's with me?"

James Witherton III shrugged."I can't sleep right now, anyways."

"And I'll take the fourth watch," said Lara.

David leaned close to Lara."I'd feel much better if you were watching my back while I was asleep," he whispered.

Lara nodded."Make that the second watch."

"Getting nervous, Davey?" Nicholas said with a sneer.

"No, I'm scared shitless."

Darlene raised a hand."I'll stay up."Her sister nodded assent.

"That makes five.I'll join," said Georges."Now let's find the bedrooms," he added with finality."Let's check upstairs."

David looked around."Nice bedroom...for a prison."

Lara looked at the furnishings.Not too old, not too modern, the furnishings looked like Victorian English, but were quite solid."If these are replicas, they're very good ones.This feels very wrong, David.We're being set up.After all, all these people are connected with us...someone went to a great deal of trouble to find these people and bring them here from the four corners of the planet."She put her suitcases on the dresser and opened the wardrobe.

"Tell me about it.But why??"

"I don't know, and I'm not in any hurry to find out.What was that again, something that voice said...'watch the stars'?What was that all about?"

"I don't know."David reached inside his suitcase and stopped."Oh, SHIT."

"What?"

"My gun's gone."

Lara opened her suitcase and found that her pistols were missing, too."More of our host's trickery.We're unarmed...and I'll wager that the others, if they were armed before, they aren't anymore.Blast!!"She thumped her suitcase, denting the leather.

"Well, I guess that means that none of the other guests are armed."

"Yes...but our host IS."

"No...I don't think so.Someone who could arrange something like this doesn't care about the weapons.He can always get his own.No, whoever our guest is, he's got something to prove.What it is, I don't know."He put on his jacket."I'm going on watch.See you in four."

"David?"

"Yeah?"

Lara went up to him and held him close."Don't you dare die on me....!"

David smiled."I'll do my best.After all, I've managed to stick with you for this long."

"Take care, David.There's a lunatic out there somewhere."

"I know."David smiled and kissed her warmly.Lara melted into that kiss, feeling a delightful shiver all over her body.When they parted, she smiled.

"That was nice."

"Thanks...maybe someday I'll do more than just kiss you..."With that cryptic remark, David left the room.Lara watched him go, then went to bed, where she fell into a fitful sleep.

_...she was running...lost in a gigantic house with serpentine hallways...a door appeared and she entered.She was in the dining room again, alone...she sees the cart with its covered platters.Against her will, she walks towards the cart, her mind is screaming at her, NO, NO, DON'T TOUCH IT but she can't stop, she reaches for the lid of the nearest covered platter and lifts it...it is agonizingly heavy, but she lifts it to see a blood-soaked matting of hair but the head isn't Damien's IT'S DAVID'S IT'SDAVID'S IT'S DAVID'S HEAD AND HIS FACE IS FROZEN IN A SCREAM..._

Lara woke up, biting back the scream that threatened to break free.The sheets clung to her sweating body and she shuddered as she told herself, _It was just a dream...just a dream..._

Then she heard the scream.

Lara bolted out of bed, still wearing the black bodysuit, shorts and hiking shoes she had worn to bed.As she left the room, she could hear another scream from down the hallway.Lara sprinted around the first turn, then the second, to find almost all the guests crowding around a male body on the floor.Panic rose in her as Lara recalled the last vestiges of her dream and she ran even faster.

She got to the group and pushed aside to see Nicholas one the floor, rigid as a board.His tongue was purple and he was pointing at David.Nicholas' eyes were bulging from his sockets.

"What's going on??" she asked.

"...you....POISONED...me..."Nicholas rattled, his breaths coming in halted gasps."...murderer....!!!!"he said one last time, then went silent.

Georges bent down to look at him, then checked his pulse.After a moment, he looked up at the others."He's dead."

Everyone looked to David, who was looking stunned."I didn't...I didn't kill him!"

"Don't give me that," James said accusingly."If you hadn't been pulled from his neck, you would've killed him when you first saw him!"The others murmured agreement, looking at David coldly.

"WELL, WELL...YOU JUST COULDN'T WAIT FOR ME, COULD YOU?WELL, ONE LESS VICTIM IS ONE LESS PROBLEM FOR ME.YOU'VE BEEN A NAUGHTY BOY, DAVID.YOU COULDN'T WAIT, COULD YOU??"The Voice sighed."I'M SURPRISED.I REMOVED YOUR WEAPONS, BUT I DIDN'T KNOW THAT YOU TRAVELED WITH CURARE, DAVID.I WILL NOT UNDERESTIMATE YOU AGAIN."

Lara looked at David as if seeing him for the first time._Would he do it?After all, David was no saint and Nicholas WAS a child-molester...no!I don't believe that David is capable of cold-blooded murder!But Lara was suddenly unsure._

"What have you got to say for yourself, David?"Dmitri demanded.

"I just came along and heard him choking.He was drinking from a pitcher of water here..."David pointed to a fallen pitcher."And then he just went stiff and fell.But I didn't kill him!Lara, you've got to tell them that I didn't kill him!"

"David..." Lara said, but David could read her unasked question in her eyes.He slumped to his knees."Look, there has to be some explanation!"

"Yeah, there is."Nikki's eyes blazed."We've got enough problems with ONE psycho without worrying about TWO.But what do we do with him?"

Dmitri smiled."Lock him in one of the rooms and chain him up.If I know David, he's got a set of handcuffs.We chain him up and lock him away until we can get some sleep and decide in the morning what to do with him.Come on!"

Lara and Georges stood there as they dragged David away.She looked up at Georges."David didn't do it, Georges.I'm sure he didn't."

"Are you sure?How long have you known him, after all?Under pressure, a person could do anything.Even you.Even me."He shook his head."All we can do is be glad that they're not going to lynch him and that they will have cooler heads in the morning.He'll be alright for now."

"I hope so..."Lara felt very small."I just can't believe it..."


	8. Revenge, Part Two: Fates Written In The

Revenge, Part II: Fates Written In The Stars

**By C. Mage and Sarah Crisman**

Lara looked at the rest of the assembled group."You realize, of course, that if David is bound and locked in his room that he is an easy target for the real killer..."

"Oh, sure," Camilla said."How can he be an easy target for himself?"

"Be happy that they are merely tying him up," Shike said quietly."There are those who would be willing to inflict the Wu-Shing upon him."

Lara turned to face him."And are you one of them?"

"My ancestries lie with Japan, not China, Ms. Croft.Nothing so horrible a punishment could be thought up in my honorable country.And though I lose face to admit it, what does face matter here and now?My immersal in Western culture for so long a time has slightly tarnished my beliefs."

"Excuse me," Lucinda interjected, "but what are you talking about?What is this Woo-Zing?"

"A method of torture and execution that the Chinese developed centuries ago," Shike said."It begins with small punishments for small crimes, and eventually becomes more hideous as the level of the crime increases.There are five levels: Mo, the tattoo of the face; Yi, the removal of the nose; and Yueh, which literally means 'the merger of knife and foot.'"He sat on the couch again.

"Thought you said there were five," Georges said."Tell us the other two.Or don't you know?"

Lara looked at Georges."It's not really appropriate to talk of such things here..."

"Listen, if this guy knows something, I want to know it too.He's piqued all our curiosities, now I say let him get on with it." 

"Forgive me," Shike said."But I will not speak of the last two symbols aloud.The mere utterance of their syllables could curse this entire house.But I will say this: Wu-Shing means 'Five Punishments.' And the fifth one very closely resembles what has happened to Mr. Powers already."

Doria and Darlene both turned the same color of green.

A sudden clatter from the vents caused everyone to jump in alarm.

"Somebody is up there!" Lucinda pointed."I can hear them walking!" 

"Relax," Witherton ordered."That's the way the whole house sounds when the heater kicks on.Clatters on, then off.It's nothing.I was here first, and it scared the hell out of me too, until I figured out what it was."

"Well, let's see what the weather outside is like," Natalya said as Darlene locked David's door and pocketed the key."Maybe if it improves enough, we might be able to radio out of here."

"Doria and I will stand guard, in case something happens or David tries to escape," said Darlene.

"Good."Lucinda smiled. 

"Not good."Everyone turned to Lara."I still don't believe that he's the killer."_And even if he did want to kill Nicholas, who probably deserved it, David would've been much more careful doing it."No...this was too neat, too clean-cut."_

"Maybe," Camilla said, "but until we know better, we can't take any chances."

James nodded."Come on...let's check the weather."

The others left while the twins stood by the door.As the rest of the unwilling guests left the hallway, Doria and Darlene looked to each other and smiled conspiratorially.

David felt the cuff release and smiled.Even though the handcuffs were police issue, he still knew his way around the locking mechanism and still kept in the habit of keeping a stiff wire hidden on his person._Shouldn't have cuffed my hands in front of me.... he thought with a smile.Once one wrist was free, releasing himself from the other wristcuff was easy.He sat there on the floor and rubbed his wrists.__Now, all I've gotta do is try to convince the others that I DIDN'T kill Nicholas._

He heard the door unlock and jerked his hands together around the bedpost.His positioned his body to hide his wrists just in time to see the twins enter."Oh.Hi, ladies," he said, playing the defeated part well."You'll excuse me if I don't get up."

"Oh, we don't mind."Doria smiled."In fact, you look good down there."

"We just came in to see if you were alright," Darlene added.

"I'm cuffed to a bed in the middle of a house in the middle of NOWHERE, stuck in the house with a raving lunatic and I'm being framed for murder.Unless they changed the definition while I wasn't looking, I am NOT alright."

Doria leaned down to whisper huskily, "Oh, I think we might be able to change your mood.Couldn't we, sister?"

"We could indeed.David?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to be cooperative?"

David narrowed his eyes."What do you mean by that?"Darlene bent down and whispered into his other ear.His eyes widened and he looked at the both of them."You're not serious!!"

"Why not?YOU'RE in no position to argue...besides, you might think it's fun."Doria smiled, reaching into her purse to pull out a pocketknife.

"I wouldn't bet on it."David looked at Darlene, who was taking off the leather strap of her purse."I'm not going to be a willing party to this."

"Oh, we don't mind.In fact, it'll be more fun that way," said Darlene, pulling the strap taut between her fists.

"I'm glad to hear it." David stood up quickly, pulling his hands out and grabbing their wrists.Before the stunned women could react, David pulled them to the radiator next to the bed and shackled Darlene to it.Doria tried to pull free, her pocketknife coming down on David's arm and causing a shallow slash.

David barely noticed the pain, but motion surprised him and he let her go.

"Alright, David...you've got one of us.What are you going to do now?Are you the type of man who would hit a lady?"She waved the bloodied knife in a threatening manner.

"Nope.I'd never hit a lady."

Doria smiled just before David popped her right on the chin.She dropped like a lead weight.

"Fortunately, you're no lady."She took the sheets off the bed and started to cut them into thick strips with Doria's knife while Darlene sat there, a strange, stupid smile on her face.

James sighed."It's getting worse, isn't it?"He looked out into the darkness, the lights from the house just illuminating the walls of falling snow just outside the windows. 

"Da.We are stuck here."Dmitri sat down heavily."Now what?"

"We've got to get out of here."Lara stood up and looked down the hallways leading out of the foyer."Has anyone else been to see any of the other rooms in this house?"

The other guests shook their heads."I just wanted to come here and meet with Powers, not explore," Lucinda said, with some of the others agreeing.

"Then there might be another way out of here...if nothing else, to see if we can discover the identity of our mysterious host.We'll split into groups of two and search this place.Somewhere in here is our culprit, most likely the one who really did kill Nicholas.Camilla, you and Lucinda check the second floor.James, Shike, you check this floor.Nikki, Dmitri, check the courtyard.Natalya, Ludmilla and I will check the top floor.We'll meet back here in two hours.Let's go."

"Hold it!Since when are YOU giving the orders around here?"Nikki said imperiously.

"If you've got a better idea, let's hear it," Lara said impatiently.

"I say we stay here and..."

"And what?Wait for the spring thaw??"James asked incredulously."We're stuck here...and I'd rather try to find the miserable son-of-a-bitch that put me here.Come on, Shike, let's find this guy."The two men left to head down the hallway to their right.The others turned to Nikki, then left on their own, leaving her and Dmitri in the foyer alone.

Dmitri said, "Come, Nikki.We have some investigating to do."He went to the closet next to the door and grabbed his parka, finding the most expensive-looking ladies coat and throwing it to Nikki."Dress warmly, it's cold outside."

"Don't remind me.After this is over, I'm never going anywhere cold again.Heat suits me just fine...hot parties, hot rays..." She smiled a bit."Don't you get tired of the cold here?"

"Nyet.How can you have snowball fight if it's warm?"Dmitri grinned and went outside.Nikki privately vowed to shove a snowball down his back and followed.

Lara, Natalya and Ludmilla went up the stairs carefully."Lara, what do you suppose the Voice meant when it talked about 'looking to the stars'?"

"I don't know.Unfortunately, I have a feeling that we're going to find out."She looked around at the hallways stretching out to the east, west, north and south."We may have to split up."

"I was afraid you were going to say that."Natalya looked down at her daughter and picked her up, looking at Lara."Yell if you see anything."

"Don't worry, I will."Lara went off to the east while Natalya and Ludmilla went to the west.

Doria looked up at David."You know, David, if you'd asked to do this to us, we probably would've said yes."

David looked down at the nearly mummified Doria and shook his head."Sorry, but no."

"You could've at least let our hands free!"

"For what?So you could get loose?"

"No," Darlene said with a slow smile."So we could pleasure ourselves for you."

David frowned in disgust."No _thank_ you."

"What's the matter, David?Don't like the idea of two women being your willing slaves?"

"Sorry, Doria...it's just I have this slight affliction.It's called good taste."He looked at the two of them for the last time, then turned and left, ignoring their threats and curses.As he closed the door, he sighed in relief._Good thing these rooms are soundproofed..._

David stopped._Soundproofed??A chill ran up his spine.He looked down the corridor and yelled, "HEY!!"As he feared, the sound didn't travel far and the echo he expected to hear never came. Now he remembered why his voice and the voices of the others sounded so strange."Dammit, the whole house is constructed to defeat sound," he said to himself."Gotta find the others...wait, check that, gotta find Lara.The others would just as soon shoot me as look at me."_

The noise of the clattering vents grabbed David's attention.His eyes narrowed.Something about that sound bugged him._I think it's time to check out the air conditioning in this place._

Meanwhile, James and Shike were getting nowhere.

The garage had been empty, starkly empty, as if the garage belonged to a house that had just been built.There were even sawdust and wood shavings on the concrete."I dunno, Shike...this place is as empty as a tomb.I haven't been able to find anything."

"Someone must have been here.The house is warm, has been for some time."He looked around."I do not like..."

Suddenly, a woman's scream came from the courtyard.James turned and went to the garage door."Nikki!Something's happening out there!Give me a hand with this thing!"

Suddenly, Shike realized what was wrong.When he had approached the house, he had seen no garage door outside."James, wait!!"

James hauled up on the bottom of the garage door.The "door" didn't move, but the handle did, breaking away.He fell backwards, then yelled as the floor tilted away from the "door," which had been nothing more than a cleverly disguised prop.Shike leaped for the doorway into the house and made it just in time.

"SHIKE!HELP ME!!" 

Shike turned and saw James trying to grasp something, anything to keep him from falling, but the wood shavings and sawdust made the floor practically frictionless.Shike looked on in horror as he saw a pit beneath the concrete...and then he saw a light go on in the wall of the pit, revealing a mass of something...MOVING...over the pit floor.Shike looked closer._Scorpions!_ he thought, looking up at James, but he had already fallen past the lip of the floor.

"SHIKEEEEEEEEE!!!!!" he screamed, landing on the floor.The scorpions attacked blindly at the force that had crushed many of their number and Shike stepped back from the scene as James began to scream and scream and scream, beyond all help the moment he tried to lift the fake door.Shike slammed the door shut and leaned against it, breathing hard.He had seen death before, in many forms, but this was more than just death..._No one should have to die like that.This house is a death trap...I've got to find the others.He steeled himself against the horrors yet to come and headed for the foyer._

Dmitri slammed the door against the cold and bolted the door as Shike ran up.Dmitri turned at the Japanese's approach."Shike...by God in Heaven..."

"What happened?!"

"One of the fountainheads...a dragon.As Nikki walked past, one of the heads turned to her and spat a stream of flame at her!It must've been napalm..."

"Get a hold of yourself!"

"Someone's trying to kill us!" Dmitri said angrily.

"I know."Shike told Dmitri about what happened in the garage."We have to find the others.The house is...what's the word?"

"Rigged?"

"_Domo arigato_...the house must be loaded with traps."He looked towards the stairs."I have heard of Ms. Croft's reputation, she might be one of the few people professionally equipped to deal with this sort of thing.We must find her first."

Dmitri nodded and they walked to the stairs.

Carefully.

One floor up, Lucinda and Camilla were searching the guestrooms.The silence in the house was eerie to say the least, but they were discovering other clues that were making them even more nervous.The rooms were all laid out in identical fashion, right down to the placement of the brushes and combs of the vanities.They didn't notice it at first because both of them had other things on their minds.

Namely, how to get back at Lara Croft. 

Camilla was fond of the idea of stripping her naked and leaving her outside to freeze while she watched from one of the windows._Of course, I'll have to get rid of David Connors, but from the guest list, I'd say that there will most likely be a line developing to put a bullet in HIS brain.All I have to do is bide my time...and when she's alone...BAM!Camilla grinned.__She'll wake up in a winter wonderland..._

Lucinda, for her part, had her own ideas about getting rid of David.Despite having no real grudge against Lara, she figured that it might be satisfying to make her hurt a little._...and, from the way she reacted around David, doing something to HIM might prove..._

"LUCINDA!!"

The cry alerted her instantly and she turned around.Lucinda was suddenly alone in the hallway.

Camilla got up from the large cushion where she'd landed and dusted herself off.She looked up and yelled, "LUCINDA!!!!" but there was no answer._NOW where the hell am I?The hallway was dark, lit by a light at the far end.The walls, ceiling and floor were solid stone, freezing to the touch.With nowhere else to go, Camilla walked towards the light, at least a hundred feet away.As she walked, an idea occurred to her.__I must be underneath the lake...maybe this is some sort of secret passage leading out! She laughed.__I knew I'd find a way out somehow.And when I get out..._

As she went to the light, she found that the hallway split left and right.To her right was more darkness; the torch was the only light in the corridor.There seemed to be another light to the left, so Camilla turned and walked towards the other light.As she got closer, the light became two lights, right next to each other.

Camilla stopped when she saw the source of the lights.

A gigantic metal bull sat in the corridor, as if trying to squeeze through the tunnel.Instead of legs, though, there was a huge roller where the legs should have been.Steam rose lazily from the nostrils."What the devil ARE you?" she asked, half-expecting the bull to answer.And, in a fashion, it did.

As Camilla walked closer, she felt a part of the floor underneath her left foot sink a few inches.She looked down, then back up at the bull.

The eyes suddenly glowed much brighter, bright enough to illuminate the corridor.The wisp of steam suddenly turned into a hissing blast and the bull began to move forward.Camilla started to back up and she realized that the bull was starting to increase speed.A look of dawning comprehension came across her face and she spun around, bolting towards the torch in the other direction.The roller began to rumble behind her as the bull began to move even faster, now moving at the speed of a brisk walk and accelerating.

Camilla discarded her heeled shoes and ran like crazy for the torch, knowing that it marked the place where the hallway split._If I can just make it to the hallway....! she thought wildly, hearing the rumble behind her growing louder...and CLOSER...__Don't look back, just run and run and RUN!! she yelled at herself._

The bull continued to accelerate, closing the distance between it and the running woman.

Camilla's heart pounded and her lungs began to ache, and she disobeyed herself, looking behind her.Her eyes went wide as she saw the bull rumbling towards her, only fifty feet away...and closing in on her.Camilla looked back, saw the torch getting closer and put on an extra burst of speed, fear stimulating adrenaline to flow within her.

The bull was only twenty feet away when she got to the torch, blindly running for the opening.She passed through the opening and felt the most profound sensation of relief...until a split-second later, when she ran into the block of stone pushing her back out into the hall again.

"NO!!NONONO!!!" she shrieked, beating at the wall as if her fists could pummel the five-ton block of stone back.She turned to her right.

It was only a foot away from her.

Camilla felt the pain of being slammed further down the hallway, tumbling twice before the juggernaut caught up with her, grinding her into a thin paste on the floor.Her scream of pain and terror lasted only until her vital organs were squeezed up through her throat...

Lucinda looked around, a chill running through her.Camilla was nowhere to be seen.Lucinda looked around for a trap-door or something to that effect, but couldn't detect anything._Where did she GO?? she asked herself.Something inside her told her to back out of the room and she obeyed the impulse.The door closed itself behind her._

Lucinda had a ghastly feeling that she wouldn't be seeing Camilla ever again.

She headed back down the stairs to wait for the others.

Lara went back down towards the hall back to the stairwell, wondering if Natalya had found anything leading to the identity of their unseen host.She also decided that she was going to go back downstairs and free David, and the hell with everyone who had a problem with it.When Lara got to the stairwell, however, Natalya and Ludmilla weren't there.

What was there was a folded up piece of paper.

Lara picked up the piece of paper and unfolded it slowly, her curiosity piqued.

NATALYA AND LUDMILLA AREN'T FEELING VERY WELL RIGHT NOW...

(CONTINUED ON NOTE AT ROOM DOWN THE HALL)

Lara's heart began to race as she looked with wide eyes down the hallway.She ran down past the doors until she came to a door with another note taped to the door handle.She ripped it off and opened it.

...THEY DISAGREED WITH SOMETHING THAT ATE THEM.

The bottom dropped out of Lara's stomach and she opened the door slowly.The floor had dropped open, all loose furniture not up against a wall now in one of two pits twenty feet below.The rest of the furniture hung there, obviously attached to the wall in some fashion, but the eerie effect of a bed and two dressers defying gravity did not hold Lara's attention at the moment.

The two bears down in the pits DID.

They were thin, apparently half-starved...but they were eating well now.Lara looked and saw that one bear, the smaller of the two, was ripping away something that looked like the sweater Ludmilla was wearing...

Lara backed out of the room wildly, slamming up against the room on the opposite side.Her lungs refused to work and she gasped for air, the shock of seeing the remains of Natalya and Ludmilla too much for her frazzled brain to handle.Lara slid to the ground and stayed there in a state of utter shock as her mind switched off for a while.

David had the feeling that he knew how it felt to be a TV dinner.

Surrounded by metal on all sides, he crawled through the ducts, feeling the rush of hot air that kept the house refreshingly warm.He had crawled only a short distance before coming to a grill barring the way.Examination of the grill revealed a set of sturdy hinges...and a latch, complete with lock.

David's mind began to roll._Somebody is__ using these things to get around...why else would anyone take the care to lock internal grills??I'm on to something here...now, I've gotta get the others and let them know what's going on.As he climbed out of the vent, he looked at the door leading to the room where the Falkner sisters were.David sighed."I'm going to have to let them go, too...damn.Well, I hope they got the hint and decide not to try and fondle me anymore," he thought aloud as he opened the door to find out that Doria and Darlene wouldn't be fondling ANYONE ever again._

The two women lay there, eyes wide open, perforated with several hundred small arrows.Green froth came from the sisters' mouths.Spray-painted on the wall was a message written in red paint over the hundreds of small holes in the wallpaper:

LOOKS LIKE THEY GOT WHAT THEIR HEARTS DESIRED...ENOUGH "PRICKS" TO SATISFY THEM BOTH AND PLENTY OF PAIN.

"HOLY CREEPING JESUS!!!" David breathed and turned away from the room, slamming the door and emptying his last meal all over the expensive carpet.He'd seen dead bodies before...but never like THAT.When the urge passed, David stood up shakily and tried to spit the bad taste out of his mouth.He ran out into the foyer, crashing into Dmitri and Shike and sending them all to the floor.

"David!!"Dmitri exclaimed, then narrowed his eyes as he got to his feet."What have you done with Doria and Darlene??"

"They're in the room you put me in...and if you can pin what happened to them on me, I'll eat your parka...!"

Shike looked up suddenly."Some kind of death trap?"

David's eyes widened."How did you know??"

"The same thing happened to us...or almost happened to us.Nikki and James are dead."

"How?" David asked.

Dmitri said, "Nikki was roasted alive by napalm spat from the mouth of a dragon-shaped fountain and James fell into a pit full of scorpions."

David nodded."It makes sense, now.Draco and Scorpio."

"What?"Shike asked.

"Don't you see?Whoever our 'host' is, he's using constellations as inspiration for ways to kill us.I just left Doria and Darlene...they had been pierced by arrows.Sagittarius, I'll bet."He looked up at Shike."Have you seen Lara?"

"No," Dimitri said.

"We've got to get the others together."David stood up and went to the double doors leading to the main hall.

"Where are you going?Are you mad?" Dmitri sputtered.

"I've had some experience with booby traps, Dmitri.You can stay here if you want, but the woman I love is out there somewhere and I'm going to find her even if the entire house comes alive to try and kill me!"David shoved the doors open and went through.

Shike looked at Dmitri. "You know...I think I was in love like that, once.You?"

"Da.Lost her to G.R.U. purge."Dmitri stood up."Some things worth dying for, eh?"He helped Shike to his feet."Well, comrade, if I am going to die, it will not be while hiding in the dark like some child."

Shike nodded and they both followed David.They went through the doors to see David kneeling on the stairs...looking DOWN.They ran up to find that a section of the stairway had dropped down and Lucinda was in a giant pit filled with water."Lucinda!!Just keep treading water!I'm going to get a rope!!"David stood up and met Shike and Dmitri on the stairs."Excuse me, gents...!"

They stood aside and let David pass, then kneeled close to the edge."Lucinda!Can you hear me?" Dmitri yelled.

"Yes!!"Lucinda called back up, shedding clothing as fast as she could to keep them from dragging her under the water."I'm alright...the water isn't cold, it's warm."

Dmitri sighed in relief."For once, a trap that didn't work.All we need to do is get her out."

Shike looked concerned, however."Why isn't the water cold...?Lucinda!"

"What?"

"Is the water getting warmer?"

Lucinda felt the water around her."Why...yes, it is."

Shike's eyes flew open."DAVID!!!GET BACK HERE QUICK!!"

"What is matter, Shike?"

"Think, Dmitri!Why would someone go to the trouble of heating water out in the middle of a cold region like this?"

"I don't see..."

"Why do YOU heat water, Dmitri?"

"When I'm trying to..."Dmitri's eyes went wide."It cannot be...!"

A shriek from below caused Dmitri to look down once again.Steam was rising from the pool and Lucinda was screaming in pain as boiling water was pumped into the pool.

David threw aside the other bags until he found his bag, reaching through it and finding the grapplegun, strapping it to his wrist.He ran back as he heard Shike's yell and entered the main hall just in time to see clouds of steam rising from the pit."Holy Mary Mother of God...!!" he whispered, then heard the screams coming from the pool and ran up to the edge."Aquarius...I should've known...!"

"David!!Do something, she's going to be boiled alive in there!" Dmitri yelled."Where's the rope?"

In answer, David aimed his right arm up and fired the grapplegun high into the ceiling overhead.As Shike and Dmitri looked on, David stepped out over the pool and started descending slowly into the pit.He squinted as Lucinda's screams of pain assaulted his ears and the hot steam started to lightly cook him.He looked down through the steam to see...

Shike and Dmitri waited, collective breaths held as they saw the thin, taut line descending into the thick mist...then saw David come up through the steam and swing over to their side, his skin red and wet.They caught and steadied him."Lucinda...?"

"I was too late...I'm sorry..."

Dmitri nodded, a new respect for David welling up inside him."You did all you could."

David shook his head to clear it, then jerked away as the stairs closed up behind him.He turned his face up and yelled, "YOU SICK BASTARD!!!WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ALL THIS, HUH???WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US??"

No answer.David turned to the others."Where did you last see Lara?"

"Top floor," Shike answered.

"I'm going up there," he stated firmly.

"We're coming with you," Dmitri vowed.David nodded and the three men climbed the stairs with determined eyes.

Lara came out of her daze with fire in her eyes.Somebody had done this to one of her best friends in the world...and she SWORE that she would find the one responsible and make him pay dearly for everything.She got up and went back to the stairs, every sense alert to anything out of the ordinary.As she got to the stairs, she felt the thumping of feet running upstairs and she dropped into a defensive stance.

Then she saw David, Dmitri and Shike running up and relaxed, running down to meet them.She fairly leaped into David's arms and gripped him tightly, tears running down her face as she mourned her friends."Natalya...Ludmilla...." she breathed.

"They're not the only ones."Lara moved back to look at David, shock on her face."Lara, this whole place is loaded with booby traps...I think we're the only ones left alive."

Lara looked around."The others are all dead?"

"As doornails," Dmitri said.

"They all have been killed in manners resembling the constellations of stars," Shike explained."We have to get out of this house before something ELSE happens."

That's when the giant broke through the wall.

At the top of the stairs, a bronze statue twelve feet tall burst through the wall, raising a razor-edged sword.The shield was surrounded by serrated teeth, like a buzzsaw blade, and was a full seven feet across.It wrested itself through the opening it had made and all could see its head, styled in Early Grecian...and wearing a blindfold."DAAAAVVIIIIIDDDD!" it groaned, stomping towards them.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me...!!" David breathed."Orion?"

Then Lara broke the trance."MOVE IT!!" she yelled and ran for the railing of the stairs, vaulting over it to land on the floor below.Shike followed suit, then David and Dmitri followed as well.They ran down the stairs with the metal giant in hot pursuit.

When they got to the stairs leading to the ground floor, David yelled, "LARA, STOP!!!"

Lara had already seen the floor falling away and she jumped through the steam cloud, somersaulting to the other side.Shike barely made it himself.David was getting ready to jump when the Orion statue hurled its shield, banking it off the wall.

Lara saw it heading straight for David's skull."DAVID, DUCK!!"

David pitched forward just in time as the shield passed over his head, cutting loose some hairs and embedding itself in the main doors.David dropped to the floor just in front of the pool of boiling water, then got to his feet.

Orion was right in front of him.

It swung its sword and David jerked back, his feet stepping to the edge of the pit.For a second, he felt his weight move back, then he regained his balance and ducked under Orion's next swing.He tried to move to the side, but Orion was a bit too fast, slashing down in the direction of David's feint.He was fast running out of options.He moved to the left and saw the sword take a huge chunk out of the banister."IF ANY OF YOU GUYS HAVE ANY IDEAS, OR WOULD LIKE TO GIVE ME A HAND, I'D REALLY APPRECIATE IT!"

Lara ran to the discarded shield."Shike!Dmitri!"

They ran to her side and helped her yank it free.Shike took it and held out a palm, telling Dmitri and Lara to back up.

David jumped over a low sword-slash, feeling it take off one of his shoe's heels.He fell forward and looked up to see Orion raising the huge blade high."ANY TIME NOW, LARA!!" David yelled.

"HEY, YOU!!!"

The automaton looked up to see a disgusted look on Lara's face as she mouthed the word, "Shmuck."Then Shike let the shield fly.David heard the ringing SHHNNNNNNGGGGG of the disc as it passed over his head and bit deep into the android's stomach, bleeding a shower of sparks.It staggered, then went for David again.

Lara's eyes went wide as she saw the blade come down again, but her actions and Shike's throw had bought David a second to act and he did, shooting the grapple-line over the pool of boiling water and leaping from the edge.He felt the blade whisk through the back of his trailing shirt and jacket, then heard a metallic groan as Orion pitched forward into the water.Arcs of electricity climbed up the sides of the pool, sparking through the steam over it, but David was already through, tumbling to the ground and rolling away from the stairs.Lara sprinted over to him and helped him up."Dave??Are you alright??"

"I'm...OUCH!...alright.I think I gave myself a good sprain."

"Where?"

"Left wrist.I'll be okay."He looked up at the lightshow over the pit."Now what do we do?"

"I say we risk the storm.Better that than trying to stay alive in this house of horrors." Lara said firmly.

"What about the mines in the lake?"Dmitri asked."How do we keep from getting blown up?"

"I think I know...but it's going to mean running VERY fast."

"This is insane!!"Dmitri looked out over the bridge.

"It can work," Lara said through chattering teeth."All we have to do is run fast enough to outrun the explosions."

"How?They're set to go off when someone tries to cross the bridge."Shike looked worried.

"Consider this...the cold is well below freezing..."

"No shit."

"Dave, please.It could be that the cold will slow down the electronics that work the detonators, as well as the chemical reactions within the explosives themselves.If they've slowed enough..."

"Yes!" Dmitri exclaimed."It could work!"

Then Dmitri's face came off.

The others turned at the sound of the gunshot to see a man standing in the mansion's doorway, holding up a formidable-looking pistol."It might work at that, but you'll never know."

David's mouth dropped open."MAAS?????But you're DEAD!"

"In the immortal words of Lara's Monty Python, 'I got better.'"Nicholas Maas smiled."I'm surprised at you, David.I would've thought a hotshot detective like yourself would've figured it out.But no, it turns out all along that you aren't smart...just damned lucky."

Shike smiled grimly."I should've examined you more fully.Something to slow down the vital signs?"

"Yep.Prerecorded voice, a couple of people helping me out...you remember the twins.They had a slight accident, though.They were quite fond of you, David, and they didn't quite have the dedication to their work that I demanded.They had to die as well."Nicholas smiled."But in the end, David, you were just too damn lucky."

"You did all this just to get back at ME??You killed all those people because of ME??"David couldn't manage to wrap his mind around the concept."I thought you were crazy, Maas, but I underestimated you."

"Small minds like you always will.Sorry about your friends, though."

"The hell you are!!Why did Ludmilla and Natalya have to die, huh?They had nothing to do with me!"David clenched his fists.

"Everyone has to have a hobby."Nicholas smiled the smile of the hopelessly insane."You wanna know something, David, just off the record?You were right all along.I did rape and kill those women.And to be totally honest?The little girls were the best."

David took a step forward and Nicholas sent a bullet into the ground in front of him.

"Don't push me, Davey...if you're lucky, I just might kill you and leave Lara and Shike alone.Or I could kill Shike and have some fun with Lara before I torture her to death and let you watch."

"You're not crazy, Maas," David hissed, "you're a full-blown, card-carrying, state-of-the-art, certifiable psycho."

"Glad you noticed."Nicholas' grin grew even wider."Any last words, Shike?You're going to die right now, no matter what.Prepare to join your ancestors."

"As a matter of fact, I do have some last words, Nicholas.In fact, it's a riddle for you to answer."

"Oh?"Nicholas looked intrigued."Well, then.Amuse me."

"What do you call an unarmed ninja?"

Nicholas considered."Alright, I give.What DO you call an unarmed ninja?"

Shike smiled a smile colder than the air around him."Impossible."He flung out both arms and Nicholas fired, sending a bullet into Shike's shoulder as the shuriken from Shike's fists imbedded themselves into Nicholas' face, chest and arms.

David caught him and hauled him to his feet."LARA, COME ON!!"He bolted down the wooden bridge with Lara in tow, leaving Nicholas lying in the snow, bleeding and dying.Inside the house, the electrical arcs had set the carpet on the stairs ablaze and the house was beginning to burn.

Even dying, Nicholas was determined to get rid of David, and his manic zeal gave him the strength to get to his feet and lean up against the doorjamb, unaware that the fire was licking its way towards him.He reached into a pocket and drew out a small box with two switches.He flipped one and a red light lit up on the box.He moved his head slowly up until he could see the trio halfway across the bridge and Nicholas Maas grinned like Satan himself, pressing the second switch.

Nothing happened.

Lara had been right, the cold had not only gotten to the bombs, but it had frozen the electronics.Nicholas staggered out to the beginning of the bridge, screaming his rage at being cheated, when he realized that one bomb still worked.However, he was in no position to be grateful.

It was the bomb right under his feet.

Lara, Shike and David ran for dear life, the first bomb only increasing their speed as they half-ran, half-stumbled across the iced-over bridge.They made it across to see the mines going off across the surface of the ice in the lake, then saw the flames reaching higher and higher within the house, explosions ripping through the superstructure.Shike went to his car as David and Lara stood there, not feeling the cold as they watched the house burn down.

David broke the silence."I don't understand how someone could hate so much that they would dedicate their lives to ruining one person...not anymore.I used to, a long time ago," he added ruefully.

Lara nodded, then embraced David."That time is past, now."She continued holding on to David.

"Thinking about Natalya and her child?" Shike said from behind them.They turned to see him resting in his car.

"Yes...they were good friends."Lara felt tears in her eyes and she blinked them away."And now they are gone."

"You helped to burn the culprit responsible for their deaths.The balance is restored in all but your heart, and soon, that, too, will follow."Shike sighed."I shall be glad to return to Tokyo...it has been some time since I went fishing."

"Are we going to run into you again?" David asked warily.

"Not professionally.You two saved my life, and for that, I am grateful.Perhaps we may never see each other again.Who knows?The Wheel turns and turns...it may come back to where it stopped before."He got into his car and closed the door, starting it up and putting the car's snow tires to good use.Lara and David watched him go until his lights faded from sight.

"Let's get out of here," Lara shivered.

"I heard that."He walked with Lara to the truck, helping her into the driver's seat."Oh, Lara, one more thing.Did you ever find any evidence that any of the Atlantean artifacts were there?"

"None.Soon it will all be buried under ice and snow.Let it stay there...there is enough trouble in the world."

"Well, in that case, Lara, I'd like to make a suggestion," David said as he climbed in the truck's cab and savored the feel of the heater.

"What's that, David?" Lara asked, still morose.

"Next time we go somewhere a little 'out of the way,' remind me to bring a shotgun.The automatic variety."

"I'm sorry, David.I'm just not in the mood right now.Let's just go home."

David fell silent.Finally, as a last-ditch effort, he said, "At least I didn't have to carry your shapely butt out of there."

Lara turned to look at him."I beg to differ, MR. Connors...YOU were the one wounded this time.I had to carry YOU out."

"Au contraire, my dear lady, I was just fine!YOU were the one needing assistance."

"Why, you impertinent arsehole!At least I didn't get chained up like some dog in a kennel...!"

As the argument continued on into the Russian night, David felt happy again.From the sound of Lara's threats and insulting remarks, she would be back to normal in record time.

EPILOGUE

As the sun finally began to rise over the burnt-out hulk months later, a ray of sunshine caught something buried deep within the ice and reflected off its metallic gold surface.Deep within the frozen waters of the forgotten lake, a ring of Atlantean metal sat there until it's discovery a week later by a brown-haired, buxom female adventuress.She wrested it from the ice with almost superhuman strength and looked at it carefully.

"Now, Lara Croft," the woman hissed, "it is about time that you met the one person who could truly defeat and destroy you...and when we meet face-to-face, you'll know WHY."

She threw back her head and laughed high and loud, a laugh very much like Jacqueline Natla's laugh, and, at the same time, very much like Lara's as well...


	9. Family Matters, Part One: Wolves & Black

Family Matters, Part I: Wolves & Black Sheep

**By C. Mage**

The wind blew hot over the African Congo, ruffling the hairs of a group of natives and missionaries from America.They were kneeling, their faces down as the village behind them burned, the crackle of the flames audible a hundred feet away.Ten men armed with machine-guns stood around the group, ready to bash in the head of anyone bold or stupid enough to try and get to their feet.

A jeep sat nearby as the employer of the men looked on, not at the group, but at the medical supplies and equipment taken from the village before it had been burned.He turned to one of the men."Jacob?Come here for a minute."

Jacob, one of the few white men in the group of mercenaries, came forward at the behest of the well-dressed man in the jeep."Yes, sir?"

"I want you and two men to load everything on the jeep.They'll fetch quite a few quid on the black market."He got out of the car, his Italian loafers kicking up dust as he walked towards the group.As he approached, his trained eyes picked out three American women, all young and attractive.The fact that two of them couldn't have been older than sixteen was not lost on him; young girls often sold for higher prices than those over the age of twenty."Lucas, take those three women away.I can sell them at Tangiers.The rest...kill them.They are of no use to me."

"Sir!"came Jacob's voice from the jeep and the leader turned back as his men tore the women away from their loved ones, crying and pleading for mercy.As the leader walked back, the remorseless guns silenced all voices forever.

"What is it?"

"Just got a message from base command."He handed the paper to the manicured fingers of the leader, who read the note and smiled."Good news, sir?"

"Important news.I have to return to England immediately. It seems that my cousin is coming in for a visit and I have been invited to attend.Can't miss that."The man looked out through the dusty windshield at the slaves being loaded on another truck."If I don't get back soon, I'll lose all hint of the respectability I've worked so hard to create.After all, it wouldn't do for me to be revealed as...well, as someone less than respectable."

"If I may ask, sir, what's the occasion?"Jacob got into the driver's seat as his boss got in on the passenger's side.

"Apparently, it's her birthday and she's bringing in a very special guest.Some man from the States, someone dear old Uncle holds in rather high esteem.Might prove profitable to attend. Jacob, to the airport, with all speed."

"Yes, Mr. Croft," Jacob said and hit the gas.

"Welcome home, Ms. Croft," said Alfred pleasantly, a smile hinting at his delight to see Lara coming home."It's so good to see you again."He closed the door.

"It's good to be back, Alfred.However, I'm afraid you've made a slight error."

"Error, Miss Lara?"

She pointed to the door.Uncomprehending, Alfred opened the door to see David standing there rubbing his nose.He looked at Lara."See?I TOLD you this was going to happen...!"

"I'm sure it was an honest mistake, Dave.Alfred, this is David Connors."

Light dawned."Oh, dear me, sir, I'm so sorry, I thought you were the driver."He went outside and took David's bags, two fresh, brand-new black and red suitcases."My deepest apologies."

"That's okay...people think I'm a low-life anyways," David said sardonically, then turned to Lara."I told you this was a bad idea."

"Now come on, Dave...you know that I wouldn't let my birthday go by without you being here.It wouldn't be any fun."Nor would it feel right."Now, come on."

"Lara has told us a great deal about you, Master Connors.I apologize deeply for my faux pas."Alfred helped David into the foyer and closed the great oak doors.David resisted a little, looking around the grand building, a little daunted.

"That's okay...and, Alfred?Just call me Dave, ok?"

"Yes, Master David."

David sighed."Lara...I gotta tell you, I'm a little nervous.I don't know anything about what to do in these kinds of situations."

"Look, the other guests will be arriving in the next few hours.We'll just get you a room and let you get settled, then we'll let the party begin.They're just people, Dave."

"Yeah, people...rich, British, family people."

Lara thought about this."Just be yourself, David."

"The place will be filled with Bobbies inside an hour."

"You know well what I mean, David.Just be the kind, sweet, noble man you are.You'll win them over, trust me."Lara guided him to one of the guest rooms and brought him inside."Now get showered and changed, and meet me in the Library.I've got to go to see Father and some of the other cousins."

"Yeah, warn them in advance."

"Now, David, I'm not going to argue with you.Just relax."Lara smiled."You're not going to get out of this easily, you know."

"Why not?"

"Because you feel the same way about me that I feel about you, I suspect."Lara said, thinking, _No suspicion about it, David.I know you feel that way._

David paused, then allowed a smile to touch his lips."Good point."

"See you in a few."Lara closed the door, then walked to the Library.

David turned around and looked at the room._Four-poster bed, expensive carpet, furniture from the fifteenth century...this isn't a guest room this is a museum exhibit!He went to the bed and felt it, afraid that it might collapse.When the bed succeeded in supporting the weight of his suitcases, David relaxed.__I can see it, now...some old lady is going to knock on the door and warn me not to touch anything._

A knock on the door startled him.He went to the door carefully and opened it a crack.Standing outside the room was an attractive woman in her late forties, tall and statuesque, wearing a modest dress._The Croft family is SCARY...!! he thought, his heart accelerating."Look, Madame, I didn't touch anything, I swear."_

"Never thought you had.Mind if I come in?"

"Uhm...sure."He opened the door and she walked in with a smooth stride."I'm..."

"I know who you are, Mr. Connors," she said icily, all business and formality."I'm Lara's Aunt Cordelia."

"Oh.Nice to meet you.Call me Dave."_This is her AUNT?Boy, Croft women sure age well.He held out a hand, which Cordelia regarded as if it were a decaying rat._

"I'd rather not."

David's cordial smile vanished.

"You see, MR. Connors, Lara is my favorite niece, the daughter of my sister, Beatrice, God rest her soul."She walked over to the bed, looking at the loud colors of David's suitcases."Why ARE your bags such ugly colors??"

"I, er, had some problems with my old bag...it got mistaken for someone else's."

"And that was reason enough to get these things?"

"Trust me, I didn't want it happening again."

"Very well."She turned to look at him."Lara is quite special to me, not to mention the rest of this family, and I don't like the idea of her rambling around with some AMERICAN getting into who-knows-what kind of trouble.She's been through this before and I don't want her getting hurt again."

_Been through this before...? "Listen, MS. Croft," David said, re-asserting himself, "I've got a newsflash for you.Lara is her own woman, not your little niece anymore.If she wants to hang around with me, or do anything else for that matter, that's HER decision. Not yours.So if you've got a problem with my character, you take that up with me.Don't use Lara as an excuse to try and get rid of me."_

They glared at each other for a few long moments, then Cordelia smiled."Well, David...Lara was right.You certainly are a scrapper, aren't you?" 

David relaxed a little."If that means a fighter, yeah...I guess so."

"I've heard some rather incredible things about you, David.I had to see for myself if you were going to back down, make excuses for yourself.I run into so many who do just that...and, thankfully, you don't seem the sort.Time will tell, but what I've seen so far is quite promising."She gave David a friendlier smile."Relax, David.I was curious to see what kind of man you were."

"And your decision?"

She smiled."I wish I'd met someone like you twenty years ago, David."

"Well, not too much like me, I hope.Twenty years ago, I was in the fifth grade."

Cordelia laughed softly."You might have even been interesting then, David.By the by, I also wanted to give you a little advance warning.Not all of the family are as accepting as myself...in fact, some of them might be a little hostile towards you."

"That's okay.I'm used to it."

"I imagine you are."She walked to the door."See you at dinner."Cordelia closed the door behind her and David listened as she walked away.He shrugged and went to take a long hot shower.

When he left the room, he was dressed quite differently.David had put on a button-down black shirt, gray slacks and a brown leather belt.His favorite shoes, black alligator-skin boots, adorned his feet and completed the ensemble.His hair was brushed and combed, and on the whole, David felt ready to meet the rest of the Croft clan.

As he reached the foyer, Alfred was waiting there to guide him to the Library."Right this way, sir."

"Lead the way, Alfred."

As the butler led David through the house, he added, "Many of the family have already arrived and are conversing in the Library.The rest will be in this evening, before dinner.Also, Lord Henshingly Croft is looking forward to meeting you."

"Sounds like he's in the minority..."

"Don't worry, sir.You do have some allies."He stopped at the double doors of the Library."Here you are.Would you like anything to drink?"

"Yeah...got any draft beer?"

"Pardon, sir, but no."

"Can you make a Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri?"

"Yes, sir."

"Please do."

"Yes, sir."Alfred turned and strolled away.David turned towards the main doors, took a DEEP breath and let it out._And to think I was only afraid of monsters and gangsters... he thought as he opened one of the doors and walked in._

The Library was not just a testament to literature; it was a feat of architecture as well.The Library was laden with books on all subjects, reaching fully three floors high.There were no walls, only shelves and shelves and shelves of books.The room was the size of a banquet hall, with stairs leading up to the next levels at each corner.The floors themselves were strong shelves of wood, allowing a person to look down from the third floor all the way to the first.Dominating the middle of the room was a long table, easily able to seat twenty.At the moment, only seven people populated it now.

Lara was near the head of the table, speaking to an old man of small stature.He was somber, but managed to quirk a smile at something Lara had just said.Lara herself was animated, excited as she related the tale of the Eyes of Shiva to them all, the old man in particular.Also seated at the table was a bookish young man, horn-rimmed spectacles perched on his nose.Unkempt brown hair fell over his eyes as he watched Lara as if to detect some point of falsehood in her story.Across from him sat Cordelia, obviously enjoying the adventure unfolding in Lara's story.To Cordelia's left sat a middle-aged gentleman with strong features and a hawk-nose, holding Cordelia's hand.Across from him sat an attractive blond girl, barely out of her teens, wearing a frilled dress.Her eyes were wide and bright as she listened to Lara's tale.Lastly, a young boy who looked no older than eleven sat next to the blond, equally rapt.

As David walked in, everyone looked in his direction.David suddenly believed he knew what it felt like to be under a microscope.Lara got up and smiled."David!" she said happily, rushing over and embracing him briefly, then took his arm and led him to the table."Let me introduce you to the family.This is my father, Lord Henshingly Croft."

David smiled a bit awkwardly, then bowed slightly."A pleasure to meet you, sir."

The old man got up and looked at David critically...then a smile lit up his features and he took David's hand."The pleasure's mine, my boy," he said in a rich, strong voice."From what my daughter's been telling me, I have much to thank you for, David."

"Uh, well, it was nothing really...um, just call me Dave."

"Dave, Dave it is, then.Right, come sit down and join us.Lara was telling us about your recent trip to Nepal."He sat down and David found a chair next to Lara.

"Well, sir...if you don't mind my saying, sir, but I thought you didn't approve of Lara's line-of-work."

Lord Henshingly Croft looked at David squarely."I don't, Dave...but I realized some time ago that I would have better luck trying to command the tides than to dissuade Lara from doing what she wanted to do.I learned to accept her choice, and I realized that through her profession, she has helped the world a great deal, both in knowledge and in deed.To be a benefit to the world in such a way is something that men dream of, aspire to, but never achieve."He smiled."I couldn't be prouder of my daughter."

Lara beamed.

"By the same token, David...I like a man who isn't afraid to say what's on his mind.I deal with men every day who have little or no integrity."Lord Henshingly Croft looked at David, who felt the older man's gaze bore into his own like lasers."I hope that this is a regular occasion.Now then, I believe you've already met Cordelia."

"I have."

"Nice to see that you haven't run off, David," Cordelia said with a smile."This is my husband, Lord James Braddock."

David nodded to Lord James, who smiled."I hear you're quite the sportsman, Dave, if I may call you that.I hear that you regularly frequent some pretty wild locales."

"Yeah...but few wilder than New York."

A voice from David's right interrupted."Hmph.Lawless, barbaric place, I hear."David turned to the speaker, the spectacled young man.

"Dave, this is Johnathan Croft.He's a barrister."

"He sits on the sides of staircases all day?" David asked with a smile.

Johnathan frowned."That's a BANISTER.A BARRISTER is another name..."

"For a lawyer," David finished."Only kidding."

"Being a barrister is no laughing matter, Mr. David Connors.Unlike Lara's lifestyle, laughably referred to as a 'profession,' I make sure that the Croft matters are properly managed."

"Don't mind Johnathan, Dave.He doesn't get out much.He keeps to himself in London, going through books, research, things like that."Lara craned her head around to look at her cousin."Behave, Johnathan."

"That's alright," David said, facing Johnathan."Forgive the joke...just trying to break the ice."

Johnathan regarded David a few moments longer, then relaxed."Well, then, David...I apologize for my brusque manner."

"No problem."

"And these little hellions..." Lara said with a grin, "are Alexis and little Brian." 

David turned to see Brian jumping up into his lap."Hullo!!" he fairly yelled, David wincing at the loud greeting.

Alexis walked up shyly, curtseying with a smile."How do you do?"

"I do fine," David said, wrestling with Brian.He looked down at the ten-year-old."Geez, kid, doesn't anyone adjust your sugar intake?"

Lara laughed."Don't worry, they'll be calling you 'Uncle Dave' before long."

"I hope not!" came a voice from the door.The people in the room turned to see a prim couple in their early forties come in."Brian, Alexis, get over here this instant!"

The children glumly complied.Lara noted that David looked very disappointed._I wonder if he likes children..._

"Hey, what was that all about?I was just playing around with the kids...!"

"Don't talk back to me, you ruffian!"The woman looked down at Brian."Look at you!Your hair's a sight and your clothes are ghastly!"

"Lorian, PLEASE," Cordelia said, but the man next to her gave Cordelia a dirty look.

"I'll thank you not to tell us how to raise our children."The man brushed down Brian's clothes while Lara and the rest of the family looked on with mixed expressions of embarrassment and exasperation.Only Lord Henshingly Croft betrayed no emotion.

Lara sighed."David, meet Alexis and Brian's parents...Arthur and Lorian Croft."

"SIR Arthur Croft," Arthur corrected."And who are you?"

"David Connors."

"Oh, yes, the...what do you call them?The gumshoe."Lorian wrinkled her nose."I wonder why they call you that?"

"Have no clue," David said good-naturedly.

"Now there's a show," Lorian quipped, "A private dick who hasn't a clue."Arthur and Lorian went to the table and sat down, the children going to their own seats with tortured looks."How do you ever earn enough money to eat?"

Lara shot Lorian a foul look, but David seemed a bit more relaxed."I do well.So must you, to earn all those face-lifts."

Cordelia let a bark of laughter escape.James straightened in his chair with a sudden look of surprise.Lara looked at David as if he'd gone mad.Lorian and Arthur's mouths opened in a stereo expression of shock."Wh...what are you talking about?I've never had a face-lift in my life!"

"Nice try.So, Arthur, what do you say?Is she right?"

"Well, um, of course...."

"Oh...well, then, I'd like to know where you got your stiff neck, not to mention the red marks on your neck and face.The makeup hides it real well, but I can still see it.Also, I can tell by the way you move your lips and the way you breathe.The slight stiff twitches...yep, from the look of it, not only have you had more than one, but you've had some work done recently.The permanent eyeliner?"

"Why, you....you....you....!!!!" Lorian gasped."You're a ruddy liar!"

"Fine."David turned to Brian."Has Mother taken a long trip recently?"

"Don't you answer him," Lorian said quickly, then stopped as she realized that she had spoken too quickly.Silence reigned along the table as most of the family tried not to laugh.

Lord Henshingly turned to David."That was quite rude, David.A person has a right to her vanity.Surely you could've used a bit more tact."

David looked right back at Lara's father."I didn't come here to get grilled like a row of baby back ribs.I came here because I was invited here by Lara."

"Nonetheless, you were quite rude to Lorian."

David sighed."Alright...Lorian, I'm sorry I acted the way I did."

"As well you should, Mr. Connors!I've never been so embarrassed in all my days!"She sniffed, then noticed that Lord Henshingly was looking at her now.

"Now, dear sister-in-law, it is your turn.You acted no less disrespectfully to David and he is a guest in my home.Apologize."

"What??"

"APOLOGIZE!!" Lord Henshingly thundered, slamming his fist down on the table.That ended all muffled conversations passing around the table.David got the distinct feeling that this "old man" was not quite as old as he let on.

Lorian turned to Arthur, but he was looking back at her in reproach.She sighed and said softly, "I'm sorry."

"What was that, dear sister?" Lord Henshingly asked.

"I heard it," David said quietly.

Lord Henshingly nodded, then addressed the table again."There will be no such disrespect in my home.If you cannot act in a civilized manner, you can always leave."David looked around the table at the expressions that statement brought and figured that being asked to leave was a permanent request."Now, then, I propose that you get a drink, Arthur.Or at the very least, take your wife for a walk."

Arthur nodded, then helped Lorian to her feet.She looked blankly at David for a moment, then accompanied her husband out the door.As they left, Alfred came in with a tray of drinks, assorted ales, glasses of champagne and wine...and one bright red concoction in a bowl-like goblet.Alfred went to David and handed him the drink, then served the others.

The party went uphill from there...after a few more bumps.

The rest of the Croft family showed by nightfall.Loud Uncle Benedict, a seaman who'd spent a great deal of time boating up and down the Amazon River and wasn't shy about relating his own adventures, entertaining and edifying Lara.She always listened to his stories, since they were told with little exaggeration and Lara never knew when she might need to head down in that direction.Gentle Great-Aunt Jessalyn, very proper and polite, seemed more indifferent towards David than anything else, but spared him a smile when she thought that nobody was looking.David noticed it, however, and smiled in return.

And then there was Lara's half-brother...Charles.

As Alfred was serving a tray of hors-d'oeuvres, a well-muscled blonde man opened the door and walked in.He was more built than David, a powerhouse, and he had the kind of superstar looks that never failed to attract the attention of every single female around him...and more than a few married ones.He saw the assembly and smiled broadly, showing perfect teeth."Well!I'm sorry I'm late, dear ones, but work intruded and I had to struggle to get away.What a world, wot?"His eyes rested on David and narrowed ever-so-slightly."And who, might I ask, is THIS chap?"

David stood up."David Connors."

"Connors...Connors...that name rings a bell...oh, yes!"Charles grinned."You're Lara's latest, what is it you Americans call it?Squeeze?"Lara's eyes turned to thin angry slits as Charles continued."I can hardly keep up with all of them...I hope you're a capable gent, David...you'd have to be, to be able to keep up with her antics."

"I do okay...so tell me, Chuckers, what's your line of work?"

"Oh, a little of this, a little of that.I do a great deal of investing in different commodities...and kindly do not call me 'Chuckers,' David.A fellow might construe it as insulting," Charles added warningly.He straightened himself and said with a prepared hint of pride, "I also market exercise and athletic equipment...many products, I might add, which I use myself."

"Dew tell," David said dryly."I'd NEVER have noticed if you hadn't told me."

"Well, David, you should come down to one of my stores.I'm SURE we could find somethingthat could help you a great deal."

David stood up, a tempest brewing behind a calm expression that was slowly dissolving."If you'll excuse me, everyone, I'm going to go out and grab some air."He looked at Charles and gave him a predator's smile."See you around...Chuckers."David turned on his heel and left while the others watched, all conversation temporarily stopped.When the door closed behind him, Lara got up and walked after him, shooting a venomous look at Charles as she left.

"That was uncalled for, Charles," Benedict Croft said critically.

"What?I just made a mention about some of my products to him.Can I help it if he is so insecure?"

"That's not what it was and you know it, Charles."Johnathan said disapprovingly.

"I'm entitled to my own opinion, Johnathan.I think that Yank is only after cousin Lara because of what he can get out of her.He's from New York, after all...used to be a policeman.They're all corrupt over there, and he's most likely the worst of the lot.Mark my words, David Connors is going to be nothing but trouble."

Lara looked around for David, thinking, _He sure knows how to disappear when he wants to be invisible...._After tracking him through the halls, she found him outside the main doors, leaning against one of the columns and smoking a cigarette."Dave?"

"Oh, yeah...THIS was a mistake."He took a long drag on the cigarette, and blew out a cloud of smoke.It hung there in the night air before a breeze dissipated it.

"Charles is nothing more than a big bully.Father only tolerates it because he's holding up the family name in the business sector.You shouldn't let him get to you."She touched his arm and he pulled away.

"I had to get out here before I pinned his nose to the back of his thick skull.I don't belong with these people, Lara.Not this house, not this family..."

"Not me?"

"Don't put words in my mouth."David dropped the smoked-out butt on the stone and ground it underneath his heel.He caught the look on her face and softened."I'm sorry, Lara.But I just don't fit in.I didn't fit in with the police department, I didn't fit in with being a husband and I sure as hell don't fit in with your relatives.And don't go on about how most of them like me.Liking me is different than fitting in with them."

"Give it time, David.Did you really think they'd just take you in and accept you as part of the family the second you walked in the room?Really, now."Lara walked to David's side.

David sighed."I just wish...I just wish I didn't screw up so much.Seems like everything I touch lately comes apart."He sat down on the marble steps."All I ever wanted to be was a good cop, Lara.When that went belly-up, I tried being a stand-up detective, but the only cases that came to me were suicide jobs.And then I met you...the only good thing in my life.And I feel like I'm going to wake up and realize that it was all just some dream I had after eating too much pizza late at night."

"Well, for a figment of your imagination, I feel pretty real."Lara sat next to David, snuggling up to him and holding him."Do you think I'm real?" she asked playfully.

Before David could answer, he heard the doors open behind him and he turned to see Johnathan coming outside."Whew!It's a bit chill out here."He looked down at Lara and David."Oh, dear.Did I come at a bad time?"

"What is it, Johnathan?"Lara asked with great restraint.

"It's Charles.He's leaving, thanks to the little talk Father had with him...however, despite his earlier comments, he wanted to give something to Lara, something he'd found while going through an old trunk he bought at an auction."He held up a scrollcase and handed it to Lara."Lara, he thought you might make better use of it than he could."

"What is it?"

"He heard you mentioning once how you'd picked up a map that would lead to the fabled mines of King Solomon."

"Yes, but the map was worthless.A large part of it was missing and I haven't been able to find the other piece."

"Maybe this will help."Johnathan handed her the scrollcase and looked to David."Good luck to you both," he added, pushing the spectacles up on his nose again and going back inside.David watched him leave.

"Dave....!!" Lara said in a hushed whisper."Look!"

David turned back to see a rolled up cloth and an uncut diamond the size of an egg.

"David...it's a...!"

"I know what it is...the question is, why didn't cousin Chuckers keep the diamond?"

"David!"

"Chalk it up to my suspicious nature, ok?"

"The scrollcase was sealed when Johnathan gave it to me, Dave.Therefore, he must not have looked inside."Lara opened up the cloth while David pondered this."Look, if this is correct, it details explicit instructions on how to find Solomon's diamond mines!"

"Yeah, but the question is, can we trust it?What if it's a forgery?"

"How many forgeries come with a real diamond?"

"What if the diamond's a fake?"

Lara stared at David, who shrugged.Then she sighed."You're right, of course, David.I'm sorry, but the thought of finding Solomon's mines...it's a find most archaeologists can only dream about.We're only a few steps away."

"To paraphrase a late colleague of yours, isn't that usually when the ground opens up under your feet?"

Lara looked at David in disbelief."Dave, what's the matter?I've never heard you so reluctant before."

David answered, after a long pause, "Lara...I've got a bad feeling about this.I mean it, this whole deal gives me the screaming whim-whams.Something is just not right about all this."

"Do come on, Dave.You know what a careful person I am."

"Sounds like a good idea."

"What?"

"Coming.I'm going with you on this little expedition.I know, I know, I'm not exactly a 'real' archaeologist, I don't know the area real well..."

Lara placed a finger on his lips."I'm having a great deal of trouble thinking of someone, ANYONE else I know whom I'd rather have with me.Now do be quiet.I've got to think of what to pack for Morocco." She pulled out a small pad and a pencil and began to write.As she did, David noticed a car pulling up, a bright-cherry-hello-officer-was-I-speeding? red Lotus GT1.The chauffeur got out and walked up to David.

"Are you Charles Croft?"

"Not on a bet, pal.Why?"

"Dastard wanted me to tune up his car while he was eating...dirty rotter.Here.You can give him the keys.I'd rather chew nettles than see his arrogant face again."The chauffeur left in a huff while David looked thoughtfully at the car.

"Lara?" David asked as he went up the steps.

"Hmm?" she asked, not looking up.

"I'll be right back."

_Hmph.He'll get over it.He always does.Charles packed his suitcase and strode out past Alfred to the main doors.__What right does he have to dictate to ME about what I should say about any so-called "guests" that invade our home?He walked outside to see Lara leaning against a lamppost and David tossing a set of keys in the air.David caught the keys one last time and smiled winningly at Charles._

"Hello, Charlie.Leaving so soon?"

"Don't you talk to ME, you ruffian.You haven't earned the right to talk to me."He narrowed his eyes."Are those _my_ keys?"

David shrugged, saying nothing.

"Give them to me, you reprobate.I'm lucky I got out here when I did...I might have had my car _stolen_."

David gave him a foul look, but tossed him the keys.Charles caught them and walked to the car, getting in and closing the driver's side door.After a brief look to make sure that the radio wasn't missing, he started up the car and drove off.David watched him drive down the long cobblestone road."Hey, Lara?"

"Yes, Dave?" she answered.

"How long does it take for somebody to drive off the property?"

"About five minutes, why?"

"Where will Chuckers be in ten minutes?"

Lara looked up."Probably on his way to the airport, why?"

David waited, then drew out a small box with two switches and an extendible antenna on top.He pulled out the telescoping rod and flipped the switch marked "ARM".

"David, why do you want to know where he is??" Lara asked, suddenly alarmed.

"I wouldn't want to leave without saying good-bye to him."He moved his thumb over the switch marked, "FIRE".

Charles stopped at the light and tapped his fingers._I hope I never meet that impertinent cretin again...._

Then his entire world went hot pink.

David put the box away."I feel much better now."

"David...WHAT DID YOU DO?" Lara asked, her curiosity beginning to approach horror.She knew that David was a practical joker and suddenly recalled that he had run to his room a few minutes before and placed something in Charles' car.At the time, she had been so distracted that the significance of what he had done was only just now occurring to her.

"I put a bomb in his car."

"David, TELL ME THAT YOU'RE JOKING!!"

"Not _that_ kind of bomb, Lara, what kind of a psycho do you think I am?Lara, don't answer that!!" he added as he saw the look on her face.

"Only if you tell me what kind of bomb you put in his car."

"I'll show you on the way to the airport.Trust me, the only thing that got injured was Charles' pride."He walked back to the house and Lara followed, intrigued to see what kind of mayhem David had wrought.

Lara looked out the window."I don't see him yet."

"Don't worry...you will." David snickered.

Lara spared David a sidelong glance, then looked to the side of the road.And there it was, sitting on the side of the road...Charles' red Lotus GT1, now with a new look:hot pink tinting for the windows and hot pink interior.Standing on the side of the road, wiping himself, was a hot pink Charles.

Lara was speechless.David honked as he passed, watching the recognition on Charles' face.As she watched, Charles started hopping up and down, screaming something that couldn't be heard over the hum of the motor but Lara understood anyway.She looked at David."What happened?"  
"Remote-detonated paint bomb."

"PAINT-BOMB???I can't believe it!"

"You can't believe that I'd do something like that?"

"I can't believe you even HAVE something like that!"

"Don't worry, it's water-soluble...at least, I think it was.I slipped it under his seat..." 

The rest of his words were drowned out by the hysterical laughter of the woman sitting next to him.Lara didn't stop laughing until they reached the airport.

Security was abnormally high at Heathrow Airport."Whaddya suppose the fuss is all about?" David asked Lara.

"I dunno.Let's find out, shall we?"She went to a phone and dialed up Security.After identifying herself, she was put through to the commander's desk.David looked around, watching the crowds come through and noting that the security booths and stations held not only standard airport security, but uniformed police officers.Lara hung up the phone."Guess what, Dave?"

"We have to take a charter flight because the commercial flights are backed up due to somebody passing bomb threats around like they were Halloween candy."

Lara stopped and stared at David."I just had to pry that out of the commander.How did YOU pick it up?"

"Simple.There are heavier guards at the security stations, which means that they sent in some specialists to look for bombs and weapons inside the carry-ons...so you can bet that they're checking the normal baggage, too.They're also armed, which makes them part of the British Army, meaning that, in case they do find a bomb, they'll corral the perp and evacuate the airport, if necessary.Only they would be so interested.Not to mention the fact that they're using the latest in identification verification gear, straight from MI-6, I imagine, since they're much more advanced than anything I've ever seen.Add it all up, and that means that we'll have to grab a charter flight if we want to bring our toys with us."

Lara shook her head."You never cease to amaze me sometimes."

"Hey, I've got depths even I haven't plumbed yet."

"Oh, no doubt," Lara said with amusement."But you are right, we have to charter a flight.Not too difficult; I know a couple of reliable people.And no, David, THIS time I will make sure of our pilot."

"Good."

Lara grinned mentally as she recalled David's trip with Krokov."Come on...I need to get to a phone."

"Well, THIS is more like it!" David smiled, getting quite comfortable."A Learjet is definitely an improvement.How long until we get there?"

"We've got a scheduled refueling stop at Lisbon, but from there, we're going to have to rough it for a bit.A contact at Casablanca will give us the supplies we need and, from then on, we'll be on our own."

"Just the way I like it.So, what's the map say?" David leaned over to look at the map in Lara's lap.

"According to this map, we'll have to travel east from Casablanca to Bou Arfa...there's a friend down there I want to get in touch with, get our bearings...some of the items on this map are too difficult to read and I want his advice.But if I'm right, the mines are in the base of the southern tip of the Atlas Mountains...south of Beni Abbes and east of Timimoun.That may explain why the mines were so hard to find."

"Why?"

"Most believe that the mines were much further south, down near the African Congo.It's a logical assumption, considering the route and the less-hazardous surroundings down there.But if this map is right...King Solomon's mines are in a more barren area, and much closer to civilization."

"Well, this brings up a rather interesting situation.What do we do when we find the mine?"

"Oh, we could take a few souvenirs, start an archaeological dig..."

"Let's make sure we keep this REAL quiet.I kinda like my privacy."

"Done."

"Good...maybe then I'll have enough money to become respectable."David smiled.

"I'm not sure there are that many diamonds on the PLANET, Dave."

He turned to Lara, who was grinning."HEY!"

"Only teasing, Dave."

"Ha.Ha.Ha.I have laughed."

"Welcome to Casablanca, Lara.Your passports, please?"said the wiry man dressed in a straw hat and wearing a Hawaiian shirt.Lara and David handed over the small booklets and the man pulled out a stamp and an inkpad, marking both passports."There.Now, wasn't that easier than going through Customs?"

"Always a pleasure, Rico," said Lara."Rico, this is my good friend, David Connors."

"A pleasure," Rico said with an infectious grin."Is he your cover this time, Lara?"

"No...I have other plans."

"Good.All aboard," he said as he walked towards the jeep.David tossed the bags into the back and climbed in, mildly disappointed that Lara was sitting up front and he was left in the back seat."So, Lara, I get the usual ten percent of the take, right?" Rico asked playfully.

"You get the usual FIVE percent of the take, Rico."

"Just checking.So, David, you an archaeologist like Lara?"

"There is no archaeologist like Lara," David said from the back.

"Granted."

"I'm a private detective."

"Oh, _that'll_ come in handy out here.You better listen to Lara, David.A city boy like you wouldn't last three days out in the desert."

"Thanks for the tip," David said sourly.

"Don't mention it."Rico drove up to a truck."Alright, you've got food and water for the next two weeks, longer if you're careful, climbing gear, some gelignite, extra ammunition, vitamin supplements, salt tablets, the works.You also got all the electronic toys you'll need, GPS, satlink, high-range radio...this thing's practically a command center.Also, for emergencies..."Rico went to a trailer hitched to the rear and pulled up a corner of the tarpaulin."Dirt bikes with sand tires."He grinned."Are we impressed yet?"

"Bravo, Rico."Lara smiled."I'm glad we share the same tastes in motorcycles.Dave, are you ready?Dave?"She turned to see David looking in the back."Dave?"

David poked his head out."I don't suppose there's a chemical toilet in here somewhere...?"

Lara looked back at Rico, who looked heavenwards."Allah help this man."He looked down at Lara again as he went back to his jeep."Don't worry, there's plenty of toilet paper in there.Good luck, Sam Spade," he called back as he took off.

David frowned.Lara sighed."I did say we were going to be roughing it."

"Okay, okay, I'll adapt."He sat in the shotgun seat and waited for Lara to get into the driver's seat.As she did, David quipped, "At least we'll be stopping somewhere for the night, right?"

"Certainly.It's a place called the Sand Dune Hotel.PLENTY of vacancies."Lara laughed.David didn't like that laugh.

David was unprepared for the Sahara Desert.Pictures and stories never compensated for the brutal truth of the cold facts that faced him now...or rather, HOT facts.He remembered going to Arizona a couple of times on business, but there was no comparison.David had prepared himself for hot, but this was beyond hot, this was oh-my-GOD-it's-hot.David was reminded of the sensation he got when he opened an oven to check on the food inside.

That first night was an eye-opener, too.With no appreciable atmosphere to hold in the heat, the temperature dropped like a brick, and turned agonizingly hot to witheringly cold astonishingly fast.Even inside the truck, Lara and David had to sleep very close together to stay warm.So it wasn't all bad.

The next morning, David got up to refreshing warmth.He smiled as he looked down at Lara, then brushed a wisp of hair away from her face.As he looked down at her, she opened one eye and regarded David lazily."Good morning, sunshine," David said gently.

Lara smiled and closed her eyes, yawning."G'morning, Dave."

"So, what's the plan for today?"

A red light suddenly began rotating in the ceiling."Survival!" she said quickly, unrolling herself from David's grasp and getting to her feet.She had slept in her bodysuit, so dressing was a short hop into her shorts and she was done.

"What's that?"

"Motion sensors mounted on the truck.We've got company."She looked through one of the tinted windows."We've got some visitors...they look like Tuaregs, but they're a fair piece away from their usual grounds."

"Meaning?"

"They're nomads.I don't recall them being this far west, though."She got down from the window and sighed."I was afraid of this, but there's no getting around it.You're going to have to go out there."

"ME??"David glared at Lara."There'd better be a BRILLIANT explanation coming...!"

"David, in this part of the world, women do not have a great deal of presence.They're second-class citizens at best, slaves at worst.Now, I'd like to be able to go through this without having to kill unnecessarily, but if you're afraid to go out there..."

"ME?Afraid??I'm..."David cleared his throat."I just didn't know if they spoke English or not."

"Of course," Lara said with a smile."Please forgive my presumptions."

"You're forgiven."

"Now go out there and speak to them."

David turned, took a deep breath and walked outside.The heat hit him hard and he stepped down to the sand as the three men raised Kalishnikov assault rifles.David squinted in the bright daylight and held up his hands to show that he was unarmed."Hey...uh, hi.Listen...do any of you guys speak English?"

One of them lowered his weapon."Who are you?"

"Oh, good.I'm David Connors.What can I do for you?"

"I am Amin Khotufu, and these are my brothers."He waved a hand to them and they lowered their weapons."Are you American movie crew?"

"MOVIE CREW?No, no, we're just photographers for a magazine," David said quickly.

"What magazine?"

David pulled the name from one of the magazines he'd seen in the truck."The Face.It's a British magazine."

"Pah!" said one of Amin's brothers, "I told you these were not the ones."

Amin nodded."A thousand pardons, Effendi," he said to David."There were some crewmen who were working on an American film, but I think they may have had some trouble getting here."

"Well...not to offend, but what do you three have to do with all this?"

"We are extras in the movie.They were looking for help and our family could use the extra money."

"What movie?"

"It's an action movie called OPERATION CONDOR.If you are not committed, perhaps we can show it to you.The movie location site is to the east of us.Do you wish to come?"

"Let me ask my partner.Hold on."David went back into the truck."Hey, Lara."

"What?"

"Remember what you said about being in show biz?Well, I think now's your chance..."


	10. Family Matters, Part Two: Third Act Prob

Family Matters, Part II:Third Act Problems

**By C. Mage**

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**(NOTE:I have never actually met Jackie Chan or the other actors and actresses depicted, so what follows is not intended to be a faithful depiction of their personalities, but a FICTIONAL representation of what they are in THIS storyline, not real life.What follows is not meant as derogatory or flattering, but is meant as simply an homage to what they could be under different circumstances.**

In short, I don't mean to misrepresent or otherwise incorrectly depict the people shown here in this story.This is an alternate reality, with alternate personalities.If anyone depicted here would like to discuss with me what I've written, the webmaster here can furnish my e-mail address to you.)

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Once Lara's satellite guidance/tracking software came online, finding the site was a breeze.She picked up some LandSats moving overhead on oil-shale detection operations, and simply "borrowed" the signal to scan for large amounts of refined metals.With that, they located the site and drove in.

The movie was currently running a scene at an oasis, and the movie crew was obviously hard at work, checking out camera angles and the equipment.Several trailers attached to Hummers stood off to one side, right next to the water storage trailers.

Lara and David stepped out into the hot air and Lara looked around."My, this place is busy."

"There's an understatement."David turned to their traveling companions."Hey, who do we talk to about getting jobs?"

"Stunt coordinator's in that trailer there.Good luck!"The two Tuaregs went off to join their brethren, getting some good-natured jabs in about getting lost.

As the two walked to the trailer, Lara said, "I dunno, Dave...isn't this rather high-profile?"

"Best place to hide something is right out in the open.Rarely does it get seen there...everyone's expecting it to be hidden better."He stopped at the door, then raised a hand to knock.Before he could touch the door, however, it opened for him.Out stepped a man with a very recognizable Chinese face.

David couldn't speak."Uh..."

Luckily, Lara was there to speak for him."Mr. Chan, I presume?"

"Yes?" he said warily."And who are you?"

"I am Lara Croft, and this is my friend..."

"Lara Croft??THE Lara Croft??" Jackie Chan said, quite surprised.

"No, actually MY name is David Connors..." David said, but Jackie ignored him.

"I read some of your books on Ancient China!" Jackie said exuberantly, his accent becoming more pronounced."It is great stuff!"

"You've read them?I'm so happy you liked them.In fact, I've got another book in the works..." Lara said blithely, fully realizing that she had found a fan.

"Come in!Come in!Tell me all about it!"

"Well, I hate to keep you from your work...show must go on, and all that."

"Ahh, they could use a break.Hey!" he yelled to a man holding a clipboard."Call it a day!"

"But we've got the next gag to do in forty minutes!"

"It's late!Give them all the night off!"

In spite of the manager's chagrin, the rest of the cast and crew cheered and broke up.Jackie Chan smiled and ushered Lara Croft inside, closing the door behind them."Now, tell me about the book," he said excitedly, sitting down and relaxing.

"Before I do, however, I'd like to make a request."

"Sure." Jackie smiled.

"Could you let me bring my associate inside the trailer?He's rather 'with me', you understand."

A look of embarrassment clouded Jackie's face."Oh!I'm so sorry.I thought you normally worked alone."He went to the door and opened it."Sorry, I thought you were one of the crew," he said apologetically.

"That's alright." David said dryly, "I'm getting used to it."He walked in as Jackie closed the door, going to a chair next to Lara and sitting down.

"Jackie..." Lara said quickly, to change the subject, "we're here because we'd like to ask for your help.We're looking for a particular dig east of here, at the base of the Atlas Mountains.We'd like to ask if we can stay on and travel with you, maybe even take up jobs as stuntpeople, to earn our keep."

"Do you know HOW to do stunts?" 

"No, but I'm a private detective in New York.Does that count?" David asked.

Jackie smiled."Maybe so.Alright, I'll take you on for a trial period, see how you do."Jackie turned to Lara."I can talk to a couple of people...maybe we can have you work as an understudy for Eva.You might have to wear a wig and..." Jackie hid a smile."...may also have to bind down your bust.None of the leading ladies are as, uhm..."

"Well-endowed?It's alright, Mr. Chan, I'm used to it."

"Jackie.Call me Jackie."

"Only if you call me Lara and my friend Dave.Deal?"

"Deal!"Jackie stood up and shook Lara's hand, then David's."Now, tell me more about the book..."

The conversation soon developed from literature to more worldly events, and Lara and David regaled the action star about some of their adventures.Jackie whistled."Ever considered selling stories of your experiences to an agent?They'd make great movies.You could even talk to some of these software companies.With actors in some of these games, you could get rich if they were made into movies or screenplays."

"Nahh, lacks verisimilitude."Lara grinned."Besides, I'd like to retain what little I have in the profile department."

"It's all so incredible.If it was anyone else except Lara Croft, I wouldn't have believed it."Jackie stood up and went to his desk, pulling out a pad."I know this may sound silly, but...can I have your autograph?"

David restrained himself, keeping his eyes from rolling up in his head.Lara smiled and signed the pad while Jackie stood there with a silly grin on his face.

"Thanks!Hey, before the filming gets underway tomorrow, want to spar a bit?I hear you're pretty good."

"Certainly."

David sat by patiently, but after going a few minutes without having Jackie look in his direction, David began to think that Jackie wasn't completely interested._Of course, Dave, what do you think?Lara's a celebrity to him, and he's a celebrity to a lot of other people...and I'm just a lucky stiff.Go figure.He refused to feel left out and simply said, "Lara, I'm going to go get some sleep.It's been a rough night and if I'm going to be ready to take a part as a stuntman, I'd better get some beauty sleep."_

"Sounds like we should all retire for the evening.If you'll excuse us, Jackie?"

"Oh, yes, of course."He was visibly disappointed."We can talk tomorrow?"

"Certainly.I'd like to hear more about this 'Dagger of Xian'."She left with a smile and yawned as she walked next to David."Dave, he's been telling me about some interesting Chinese legends, some I'd never heard before.Did you know...?"

"Lara, as much as I'd LOVE to hear about yet ANOTHER artifact, I'd like to get some sleep tonight."

The hint of irritation in his voice made Lara frown."Is there a problem, Dave?"

"No, not really.I'm just very tired...still a bit lagged from all that traveling, I guess."

"Dave, what's wrong?"

"Look..." David stopped and turned to look at Lara."I just felt extremely left out.Do you know that, apart from introducing myself and saying goodbye, I barely said a word all night?Oh, sure, I put in a few words here and there, but I felt like a piece of furniture in there.Jackie was gushing all over you..."

"I wouldn't call it 'gushing,' David."

"...and I felt like the Invisible Man."

"Don't tell me that you're jealous," Lara said hotly, tired herself.

"JEALOUS??Of that high-priced talent?Listen, Lara Croft, don't even go there.Those Hollywood actors are all alike and I'm surprised you even fell for the act."

"Act?He's a real person, David, not just some picture on a movie poster for people to look at.He's got brains, talent, and he's got more on the ball than you think!"

"Look, I just don't like..."

"What?Go ahead, say it!You don't like someone else having my attentions for more than a minute at a time, isn't that right?Well, I have some pressing news for you, David Connors!I am not your personal property and I don't need your permission to talk or not talk to anyone!If you don't like that, feel free to sleep out with the snakes and the sand tonight!"Lara stomped into the truck and slammed the door.David went to open the door and found it locked.

"Dammit, Lara!I was just..."Stung pride and hurt feelings made his voice catch in his throat and he reached up to try and open the door again.

Lara pulled her hand away from the lock._Damn him and his wretched ego!_ Lara thought, but a part of her began to plead with her to open the door and apologize, but another part of her said, _What do you need to apologize for, just because he's jealous??Let him apologize first, he's the one who can't deal with reality._

David dearly wanted to pick the lock, but he remembered that his lockpicks were inside his jacket...inside the truck.He looked up at the door, then turned and walked away.Feeling the way he did now, that last thing he wanted to do was open his mouth.David had no desire to make things worse...because Lara was right.It wasn't like he'd ever tried actually dating her; they spent almost all their time adventuring or trying to stay out of trouble.Except for a few scant experiences where they actually spent some time together without anyone else around, Lara and David had never really set aside time to get to know each other.Emotions ran high between them, yes...but too high.Things were going incredibly fast, and David wondered if maybe being in love with her was what he really felt.

Maybe he was just in love with the idea of being in love.

_Oh MAN...He sat down on a rock near the water of the oasis, next to some camels watering a few feet away from him.__I care about Lara, that's for sure...but is it really the kind of love I'm looking for?And if it is...He sighed.__...and if it is, are we moving too fast?I could lose her in the worst way if things get to a head and we suddenly find out that what we had was little more than infatuation.And do I love Lara, or some image I've let slip into my head of what I think she should be?_

With a shock, David realized that there was a great deal that he really didn't know about Lara.He just assumed a lot about her._Oh, man...what have I done?_

Lara lay in the foldout bed, but sleep was not coming easy to her.It wasn't the first time she'd slept alone since she'd met David; they'd only shared the same bed on four or five occasions, and even then, no sex was involved.Most of the time, she slept in her own room with David sleeping in his, right down the hall from her, at her home in England.But this time, she felt very alone.It was their first real fight, and for once, Lara was having her doubts about David.

It felt very odd, being by herself, and that scared her.By her very nature, she was independent and self-assured.But being abruptly alone, especially after the heated argument with David, made her afraid that she'd made a big mistake getting as close as she had to him._Am I so desperate for love that I grab the first man that came along after Michael?Do I really love David...or am I just afraid to go on without someone?_

THAT thought was not encouraging.

Lara couldn't deny that she felt strongly about David, trusted him with her life (and had on more than one occasion) and thought he was a better man than many she had met.But was it love, the kind of love she wanted with another man?

Or was it something else...something more fragile that could be broken if mishandled?

Lara regretted being so angry with David.She realized that she and Jackie had excluded him from the conversation to some degree, but Lara couldn't help it if David knew so little about Chinese history, and she wasn't about to "dumb down" for his benefit.After all, Lara respected David's knowledge about things she knew little to nothing about.She didn't expect him to treat her like an ignorant child and she wasn't about to do the same for him.But it didn't make her feel better and she wondered if maybe she should've steered the conversation towards matters that David felt he could've contributed to the conversation.

Lara sighed again._I have more luck with death traps in tombs...they're easier to figure out and don't hurt nearly as much.Maybe things will have settled down by the morning._

With that thought to console her, Lara finally got some sleep.

David was not having quite as much luck.

He had underestimated just how COLD the desert became at night.With no appreciable atmosphere to hold in the heat, the sandbox became an icebox in a few hours. He wandered over to one of the other trailers and knocked on the door.He didn't expect an answer, considering the lateness of the hour, but it was either wake someone up or freeze to death.

The door opened and a blond woman, strikingly attractive with Nordic features, looked down at him.She was wearing a robe around her nightdress, and her skin visibly prickled with goosebumps when she felt the cold hit her."Yes, what is it?"

"Uh...I got locked out of my trailer...could I borrow a few blankets?"

"For sleeping outside?Are you nuts?I thought everyone attended the desert awareness meeting..."

"Look, if you're going to browbeat me, can you at least do it someplace warm?"

"Oh for heaven's...come in,"Eva Cobo De Garcia said, backing up as David moved in quickly.One the door was closed, Eva added, "And make sure you wipe your feet on the mat...the sand gets into everything around here."

Chagrined, David did so.

"Now, then, why would you..."She backed up a pace, her eyes narrowing."I don't recognize you as any of the crew.Who are you?"

"David Connors.I'm kind of new around here."

"Obviously.You don't know much about desert survival, do you?"

"Geez, rub it in, wouldja?"He looked around."Where are the blankets?"

"I know I'm going to regret this, but...look, here's a sofa.You can sleep here tonight, bathroom's down that way, water and food is in the fridge over there.Try entering my bedroom and you'll find out how it feels to take a dump and find splinters in the bowl when you're done, because I've got a Louisville Slugger right by my bed," she added sweetly.

"What, no kiss good night?" David said sourly and climbed onto the sofa.

Eva watched him lie down and smiled softly._Maybe when he's awake he's more fun to be with.She shrugged and went back to her bedroom, making sure to close the door securely._

The next morning, David awoke to find himself alone in the trailer.He sat up and blinked, suddenly finding himself sweating instead of freezing.He remembered the events of last night and groaned."Just what I need, the morning after without getting drunk the night before..."He came to his feet and got up, feeling cramped muscles complain."Gee," he muttered, "I wonder how Lara and Jackie are doing this morning?"

Lara got up from her resting-place on the ground.

"Ready to go again?"Jackie said, holding out a hand gently.Lara took it, letting Jackie pull her to a standing position.

"Can we stop for just a bit...I'm getting a little winded.I stand in awe of your expertise," she said breathlessly.

"Hard work and discipline.You're quite good...when was your first time?"

"Just after my plane crashed into some mountains in the Himalayas.I was more interested in being a free spirit, anxious to get out from under the Croft family shadow."She dusted herself off."It felt spectacular."

"Well, then...you think you're up to doing it again now?"

Lara took a deep breath."Alright, but go easy on me.I'm still a little tender from the last five rounds.I must say, before we go at it again, that you're quite a specimen.Most of the men I do this to don't get up after the first round.They're far too tired."

"Ready when you are," Jackie smiled, moving into a defensive fighting stance.

Lara readied herself again, then launched into a flurry of attacks.Jackie seemed to counter them easily, then pushed back her attacks until she was forced to go defensive.She moved away and they circled each other.As she moved, she asked, "I certainly hope Dave is alright."

"I'm sure he's just fine.Believe me, we would've heard if he went to sleep somewhere on the oasis.He probably camped out with some of the crew."

"Maybe...I'm just worried."

Jackie relaxed a little."Want to talk about it?"

"We had our first fight.Our first REAL fight, not just a little squabble like we usually have."

"What was it about?"

"Well...to be honest, it was partially about you."

Jackie left Combat Mode."Me?"

"Dave was feeling rather jealous...after all, you and I were doing the only talking, and I think he was feeling left out."Lara didn't feel as angry about it as he did the night before...in fact, she felt ashamed."I don't know, I guess I was tired and I lost my temper."

"Oh.I was sort of enthusiastic, wasn't I?"Jackie nodded, a little sheepish."Now I know how one of my fans feels.Will he get over it?"

"I don't know...I think so."I hope so."I just wish I knew where he was..."

"There he is."

Lara turned to see him stepping out of a trailer, looking disheveled. "Oh, good."

"Maybe not."

Lara turned to him."What do you mean?"

"Well, that's Eva's trailer, the blonde actress playing Elsa.There's been a lot of rumors about her, saying that she's very active....sexually."Jackie turned to Lara and saw an armory's worth of daggers flying from her eyes to the trailer."Now hold on, Lara, those are just rumors.Hollywood's full of them."

_I swear, if she took advantage of David...!!!"I'm not angry, Jackie...I just wish to talk to her.That's all," she added with an unconvinced tone in her voice._

Jackie heard thunder and decided to head it off before it struck."Well, she's right over there at the site, right next to Carol Cheng."He turned back to Lara, but she was already striding towards the pair of women going through their lines.Jackie ran to catch up with Lara.

Eva finished the scene off and sighed."Right the first time!"

"Listen, Eva, I saw that guy who left your trailer this morning.I thought you were going to get some sleep."

Lara showed up just as Eva said, "Yeah, I know, he's hot, but I had the scene to do and I wasn't up to trying anything with him last night.Now, if he'd come by a few hours EARLIER..."Eva shook her hand as if she'd touch red hot metal."WHOOO!!I would've..."

"EXCUSE ME."

Eva and Carol turned to see Lara standing there, tapping her foot on the sand."Yes, what is it?" Eva asked irritably, unaware of how chilly the desert air had suddenly become."We've got a scene in just a few minutes.Is there some change in the script or something?"She narrowed her eyes."For that matter, who are YOU?"

"I'm the one telling you to lay OFF that particular man, Eva," Lara said coldly."He's spoken for."

"Really?I saw no ring on his finger.If he wants to spend some time with me, that's really none of your business."Lara opened her mouth just in time to realize what was going on.She was acting precisely the way David had last night.The revelation struck her into speechlessness."And another thing, lady, I hope you've got a good reason for barging in like this, but we're trying to shoot a picture here.You know, a MOVIE?So unless you're part of the crew, get off the set."

"Ladies, please!" said Jackie as he finally found a place where he could interject."Eva, this is..."

"Laura.I'm the understudy for your stuntwoman," Lara said quickly."Listen, I'm sorry if I snapped at you, but I've been eyeing that particular gent for some time.Are you meaning to be any competition?"

Eva opened her mouth to say something, then smiled."Ah, well...just between you and us girls," she said, ignoring Jackie for the time being, who decided that he was unable to combat the concept of girl-talk and went to find David, "I think he'd be quite the roll in the hay...but he IS a little intimidating.He'd probably break me in half."

"Yeah..." Carol said in a faraway voice, then shook herself."I mean..."

Lara smiled."Well, he IS a handful."

"Handful??" Eva asked, shocked."A woman could have ten hands and still not have enough hands to hold on to THAT one!"

The conversation continued as the ladies continued to discuss David at length (not to mention discussing David's "length") and Lara began to relax.It turned out that Eva wasn't after David so much as she had reacted to Lara's claim to David.Lara was abruptly reminded that she wasn't the only strong-willed woman on Earth, and found herself liking Eva despite herself.

Jackie found David working out in the exercise area set up for Jackie as well as the other martial artists working for the movie.Jackie watched David punish the large bag at the far end, throwing lefts and rights at it with his bare fists, and Jackie didn't find it hard to imagine whose face David had overlaid on the bag.David was obviously working up a sweat.Jackie considered the pros and cons of letting him get the stress out of his system over going down there and clearing up the misunderstanding before David got too far with wrong ideas about Lara and Jackie.Jackie wasn't the type who went looking for fights and he was sure that David was going to try to force one if Jackie went down to talk with David.

While the actor was puzzling this out, David began a series of one-two punches that jangled the chains holding the bag stationary, then proceeded with harder and harder punches.Sweat was running down his body now, plastering his T-shirt to his body and causing his jeans to attain a marginally darker hue.Suddenly, David came up with three powerful punches in rapid succession.The first caused a seam on the bag to pop, the second stretched one of the links and the third caused the bag to pop even more stitches.

David stood there, air hissing through his teeth, as he saw a small trickle of sand leak from the bag and begin a small pile on the mat.Jackie watched him stand there for a few moments longer as David watched the growing mound of sand with a strange fascination, then go to one of the water dispensers and take a cup, filling it and emptying it three times.David then went to a shelf on one of the pre-fab walls and picked up a jumprope.

"Excuse me, David."

David turned his head, seeing Jackie walk into the area, his shoes at the edge of the mat."What?" David asked flatly.

"Before you start pushing yourself any further, keep in mind that we have a limited supply of water here.Any more of that and we'll have to start rationing again."

"You come all the way down here to tell me that??" David growled.

"No, I came down to ask what was bothering you."

"Nothing that won't be fixed once Lara and I bail this hot-dog stand."

"I don't think that's the true reason."

"Think whatever the hell you like, Mr. Movie Star."

"Look, David."The tone in Jackie's voice made David turn his body to face the celebrity."I don't have to prove anything to you and I don't think you have anything to prove to me.We are what we are."

"So?What's your point?"

"The point is, David, that you're reading too much into what happened last night and you're down here sulking while Lara is having to deal with it, and that's not fair to her or you."Jackie saw David tense up and added, "I know what you're thinking, David.That impulse to try to beat me up, I can see it in your eyes.But while you have a lot of skill, I think I'm better, and deep down, you think so, too.But you don't want to see who the better man is, really, do you?You just want to beat something up.Well, we're going to have to tape up that bag over there, thanks to you.Is that going to be enough?"

David didn't say anything, but his face told novels.

"Look, David, just get over it.We've got a lot to do today and it'll be better for everyone if you just realize that you don't need to be jealous of anything.Lara may like talking to me, but that's all it is and that's all it will ever be.The sooner you realize that nothing has changed between the two of you, the better off you'll be."

David opened his mouth to say something, but didn't.He seemed to deflate as he sat down on the mat."You're wrong about one thing, Mr. Chan..."

"Jackie."Jackie sat down across from David."Call me Jackie."

"Alright...Jackie...things have changed between me and Lara, I could tell.Things were going so perfectly, we were in love, we'd even showed our devotion to each other, and now, this.What the hell do I do now?"

"Nothing bad is going to come out of this, David."

"So you say.But I can't shake the feeling that...well..."

"What?"

"...it's like the innocence is gone."David shook his head."Does that make any sense?"

Jackie smiled."More than you think.You can't expect everything to be all wine and roses forever, David.Sooner or later, reality sets in and you realize that it isn't some fairy-tale where the hero and heroine live happily ever after.Things get tough."

"I've been through tough with Lara before."

"I don't mean tough as in run-for-your-life-or-get-shot-by-the-killers tough.I mean tough as in the initial infatuation wears off as things change.Life is not the way it was when you first met, is it?"

"No."

"You have to accept change in a relationship, David, that's how you stay in love.Love takes effort.It's not just a feeling when you see someone in the perfect light...you have to feel the same way when you see her wake up in the morning after a bad night and she looks a great deal less than perfect."Jackie sat back.

David considered for a while, then grudgingly said, "I guess I see your point."

"Good, because it's not easy for me to be this profound this early in the day."Jackie grinned and rose fluidly to his feet."Now come on.We've got a movie to do and we're behind schedule enough as it is.Are you going to be okay?"

David nodded."I'm not looking forward to facing Lara right now, though, I gotta be honest with you."

"That's alright, for now. But don't take too long."Jackie held out a hand to help David to his feet."Or she's going to wonder a few things that she shouldn't."

David nodded again.

Jackie checked his watch."Got just enough time.Hope it works out, David!"Jackie tossed him a thumbs-up and David smiled a little.Then Jackie took off and sprinted back up the dune towards the set.

David sighed and started the walk back to Lara's truck.As he walked back, he realized that he'd been acting like an immature child and it pained him to think that he'd acted like that in front of Lara, of all people._Well, David, next time you see her, you'd better do some high apologizing..._

Something made him stop.He looked up, then towards the west.Even though it was a clear day, David swore that he heard thunder.He ran the rest of the way to the truck and climbed into the back, turning on the satlink._Now, how did she work this again...??? he thought, fiddling with buttons and dials until he believed he found what he was looking for.There was a satellite moving over the same general area as the truck, according to the screen, but he couldn't pick up anything.__One of these days, I've got to take a computer course!Wait a sec...what's this?_

David's eyes had found a section of the display marked, "SEISMOMETRY LINKAGE."

He flicked the switch on and moved the dials around until the flashing light indicating the location of the truck was dead center.In the upper right corner read the legend, "RANGE: 10 M."

David pushed a button marked, "RANGE" and he saw the display change to "RANGE: 20 M."He pushed the button until the radius was fifty miles away.That's when he saw them: five large blips moving fast towards the truck at high speed."This can't possibly be good..." David said worriedly, then bolted out of the truck towards the set.

Jackie Chan ran through the ruins, moving into a cleared area and stopping.He and his companions were cornered.

He turned towards the oncoming nomads and assessed the situation carefully and that's when David burst onto the scene, yelling, "JACKIE!JACKIE!"

The expression on Jackie Chan's face changed from worry to exasperation and the female co-stars threw up their hands."CUT!!" he yelled, then turned to David."What's going on, David??This isn't the best time to talk!"

"Just tell me one thing.Are you getting in any supply trucks today??"

Now anger touched Jackie's face."There'd better be a BRILLIANT explanation for this."

"Just answer the damned question!"

"No.Why?"

"Because I think we're in serious trouble."David explained the readings from the seismographs."Locals?"

"David, don't panic.I'm sure it's just a caravan of some kind."

"They're heading right for us at just over seventy miles an hour.Unless they're running in the Baja Sahara 1000 using souped-up cargo trucks...!"

Jackie suddenly remembered what kind of adventures that David and Lara were used to having."Did you know about this?Did you know they were coming?"

"Jackie, what's going on?" Carol asked.

"No, I didn't know!I thought Lara and I had shaken off any tails we might've had back in Casablanca.Where's Lara?"

"She's in the makeup tent," Eva said, alarm creeping into her voice."What's going on?"

"Trouble, maybe."Jackie turned to David, who had a thoughtful look on his face."What are you thinking?"

"Do me a favor, Jackie."

"What?"

"Get your people out of here.I'm going to see if I can draw them away; I won't let anyone else get pulled into my troubles and I'm sure they're after me and Lara.And one more thing."

"What??"

"Tell Lara I'm sorry."David turned and ran for the truck.

"David!!Damn!!"Jackie turned to the others."Alright, strike the stage, pack everything up!We've got incoming!Carol!"

"What?"

"Find Laura and tell her to get to her truck.Tell her that David will explain."

The truck took off across the desert, the trailer unhooked and discarded.As it headed to the east, its pursuers saw its movement on a scope in the lead truck.The operator turned to the radio and thumbed a switch."Tyson, this is Morton.They're on the move."

"Think they made us?"

"Likely.They're moving fast directly away from us, heading due east-northeast."

"Damn.How fast?"

"It's going to take a while..."

"Don't GIVE me 'a while,' Morton, give me some numbers!"

"Yes, sir."He tapped a keyboard and looked at the screen to his right."We can overtake them in two hours, but we'll have to keep the hammer down the whole time."

"Then do it.I'm not going back to Jacob and telling him that we lost them.Do it."

"Blast him!!"

Jackie turned to Lara as she looked out the rear window."He must have had his reasons..."

"That's not the bloody point!We've got to go back!"

"Lara, please.I have a lot of people here who aren't like you or David.They're not able to handle what you and David have become used to."

"Jackie...just stop the vehicle."

Jackie stopped and radioed to the rest of the cast and crew's vehicles, "Hold on.We're stopping here."He turned back to see Lara open the door and sprint back to the trailer hitched to the truck."Lara, what's on your mind?"

"I'm going back for him."

"By yourself??"

"Jackie, please understand."She ripped off the tarp covering the two dirt bikes and dropped the tailgate."The last words I said to him were in anger.If something happens to him...Jackie, I'll go out of my mind, I swear to Harry I will."

"Wait!"

"Jackie," Lara said, getting on the seat of the quad-runner, "give me one good reason why I should wait."

Jackie did.

"Right this way, Mr. Croft."

"Thank you, Jacob.How did it go?"The two men walked through the halls of the mansion in Tangier, a grand place surrounded by armed guards and an extensive security system.It had once belonged to a Nazi commandant who had grown rich off the German occupation of Northern Africa during World War II, but had fallen into the current owner's hands when the commandant's son had a bad boating accident in the Mediterranean sea three years before...one that the current owner had engineered, simply because he liked the way the mansion looked.

"Once we tracked their route according to the map you furnished them with, the homing device placed in their satellite dish led us right to them, sir.However, they must have detected our vehicles and we had to pursue them.However, they were unprepared for a full assault and their vehicle was a total loss."

"How was my dear cousin faring?Uninjured, I hope."

"Sadly, sir, we were only able to recover one body from the wreckage, that of David Connors.The body of your cousin, however, was lost when the vehicle blew up.No one could've lived through the explosion, and if she had, she wouldn't have survived the desert."

"Never underestimate a Croft, Jacob.If you dropped her in the middle of the Arctic wearing nothing at all and carrying a butter knife, she'd show up the very next day on your doorstep wearing a thousand-dollar evening gown, carrying an Uzi in her right hand and a bag of diamonds in her left.Guess what she'd be there to do?Hint: it involves the Uzi."Jacob's employer smiled slightly."But I think if the Sahara didn't stop her, the trail would.You took the precautions I specified?"

"Yes, sir.Right down to the last letter."

"Good.She'll have no choice to head home, which I doubt she'll do, or to follow the clues you left for her and head off to take her revenge against my rival in Egypt."The man smiled widely, showing perfect teeth."If she kills him, I'll get his resources, and if she doesn't, I'll arrange to buy her from him, if she's still alive after Kassim gets through with her.Either way, I win."He sighed."I can't tell you just how exhausting this all is.It is no easy task to thwart Lara Croft, Jacob.And what about dear David?Is he enjoying my hospitality?"

"Not really."

"Good.I think I'll go see him.A familiar face might cheer him up."

David awoke with a start, the pain in his leg waking him again.He sat up on the floor and rubbed the area of his right leg around the manacle, a wide band of iron obviously made with crude smithing tools, but the band and chain connecting the leg to the floor was as effective as it was primitive.

The door to the jail opened and light pierced the room, revealing the four other cells.David squeezed his eyes shut to protect his light-starved eyes from pain, then squinted to let his eyes adjust.He saw two shadows enter the room, one tall and muscular, the other shorter and thinner, but not by too much.As David opened his eyes wider, recognition made his face go slack."JOHNATHAN??"

"Yes, David," said the smaller man, looking down at David through the bars."It's me.And, just so you won't forget again, that's BARRISTER, not BANISTER."


	11. Family Matters, Part Three: Reunions

Family Matters, Part III: Reunions

**By C. Mage**

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"What in the name of God are YOU doing here?" David asked, utterly amazed to see the bookish cousin he'd seen at the birthday party dressed in a tailored Armani suit, sporting a champagne glass and a gold Rolex."And what's with the monkey suit?"

"Can't you guess?Come on, David, show me what a good detective you really are.Now, Jacob, let him be, don't give him any hints."

David looked at him and then it all clicked."Richard never gave you that scrollcase, did he?That was a little present from you; he didn't know anything about it."

"Correct.I needed the hook to get Lara's attention and that was it."

"That map to King Solomon's mines was a fake, wasn't it?"

"Completely."Johnathan smiled, obviously enjoying himself."The diamond was also relatively easy to get."

"Was that fake, too?"

"No, that was real.Uncut diamonds are rather easy to get in South Africa, David.I buy diamonds from Zimbabwe all the time.I just picked out a large, uncut one and used it as bait.Simplicity itself."

"Wait...let me guess.You had us bugged, didn't you?That's how you found us."

"Right as rain, David.Oh, I wager you're thinking right now, 'Rico should've known better than to let someone bug his merchandise,' correct?Well, you're right, he should've known better; under normal circumstances, that shouldn't have happened."

"...unless Rico was the one who put the bug there to begin with."

"Lara is far too trusting when it comes to her contacts.But then, you can't trust anyone nowadays, can you?"

"Not even family, apparently," David said through gritted teeth.

"Sorry, old chap, but that's life."

"You'd sell your own family out for money, wouldn't you?"

"Most of them, perhaps.The older ones, of course, would go for a lot less," Johnathan continued blithely, "but the younger looking ones would fetch quite a price.The two children, for example...you'd be surprised how much unspoiled foreigners go for in these troubled times."

"What surprises me is why.You had it all, slime.Wealth, power, a family."

"A FAMILY??Well, strike me, David..."

"Anytime!" David snarled.

"...but you seem to have missed the whole point.Do you know what it's like to have two older, better cousins?One powerful male with everything going for him and a beautiful girl, all sunshine and joy?Dear old Lord Croft just adored his children, but despised his nephew.I wasn't as good-looking or as promising as his own children.It took me a great deal of time to realize just what my uncle wanted."Johnathan closed his hands into fists, bringing them up in front of him, level with his eyes."POWER, David, you have no idea what true power is.The power to do anything you want, whenever you want, to anyone you want.My own parents didn't understand, those two idiots Richard and Lara didn't understand...but Lord Henshingly Croft and I understood.He tried to groom his children to take his place, but Richard was too arrogant, so Lara was the only choice.She would've gone through with it, too, but I stopped that in a hurry."

Light dawned in David's mind."The plane crash in the Himalayas."

"Yes...only that silly bitch managed to survive, but the damage had been done.Lord Henshingly Croft had a willful, independent daughter who had none of the goals he had set for her, so he disowned her for a while.Richard was left to his own ambitions and I stepped into the picture.After the right schooling and time, I was brought into Lord Henshingly Croft's firm and I made sure that I was a success.What my ambition, drive and tenacity did not achieve, subterfuge and skullduggery did.I was making enough money to start my own firm, but I didn't care.I was working for someone who understood the benefits and goals of power and that made me happy.Then, IT happened.I was no longer a part of Lord Croft's picture."

"Let me guess.Lord Croft and Lara reconciled."

"I couldn't believe it!Had he gone mad??I was making him into a powerful force and he was going to throw it all away for that _bitch _again.Do you know that I'm now worth more than his estate and the estates of all my relatives COMBINED?I can snap my fingers and I can have anything I want.I can take what I want, kill whom I want, own whatever my heart desires...but Lord Henshingly Croft was betraying himself and me by letting his wretched daughter come back into his life.I couldn't let that happen."

"So you think that things are going to be all hunky-dory once Lara's dead?"David shook his head."Buster, you are _completely_ insane!"

"_Poor_ people are insane, David.Rich people are _eccentric_.Pardon my use of big words, just in case you have trouble following along."Johnathan walked closer to David, making sure to stay out of David's reach."Once Lara is properly humiliated and killed, Lord Henshingly Croft will come to his senses.And things will begin growing once again, and we'll be back in business."

"Not a chance."

Johnathan walked to the window."Let me guess.You being the gentleman-in-distress, you're doubtlessly waiting for a certain well-endowed heroine to come in and save the day, aren't you?Well, I hope she gets here soon...because you're running out of time.You see, you only have seven hours left to live."Johnathan opened the window, letting in the cool night air."You see, the cell you're currently occupying has had some renovations made to it.Underneath the cell is a pool of water, and that pool leads to a large tank filled with some rather ferocious piranha.Red piranha, I believe.They haven't been fed for a bit, so they're only a few days away from chowing down on each other.Won't they be glad to see you fall in the morning?Of course, your legs will still be chained, so simply climbing out using them will be a bit difficult, but don't you worry.As soon as the smell of your blood hits the water, you should have about three seconds before there's a great deal more."

"You're not just insane, Johnathan, you're sick.What do you get out of all this?"

"The satisfaction of knowing that when you and Lara are gone, I'll be able to get back to business without some irritating flatfoot or a waste of female skin getting in my way.I try to take care of nuisances like you and Lara before they become full-fledged problems.That's why I stay on top."

"I've got news for you, Johnny-boy.I _am_ a full-fledged problem to you now," snarled David."You think you're a threat??I've crossed paths with people that'd make you look like a schoolyard bully.That's all you are, Johnathan, a little man who only thinks he's a big man.When you get yours, you'll find out how right I am."

Johnathan frowned."Jacob, kindly teach this moron a lesson.I'm going back up to the party.Don't kill him, Jacob, just hurt him some.I want him to live long enough so that Lara, if she does get here, will be able to watch him become fish food."He walked back upstairs, ignoring the grunts Jacobs made as he kicked and beat at David's body._After all, one must rise above such petty concerns...by leaving it to those who enjoy the work more. _Johnathan smiled as he left the "wine cellar" and rejoined the party in progress, thrown for some well-to-do members of Parliament, not to mention some Arab and Iraqi concerns.He walked up to the podium and the curtain behind him pulled aside, revealing the attractive forms of twelve women, one of them a member of the missionary group he had encountered the week before.The other two were still being conditioned through pain and some very unorthodox pharmaceuticals."Now, then, gentlemen and ladies...what am I bid for the lovely young Japanese here?Lovely, never soiled, and the tender age of fifteen.She'll make a fine man or woman very happy indeed.Opening bid is twenty-five thousand dollars."

Business as usual.

Lara lowered the binoculars."Something's not right here."

"You mean, besides the fact that I came along with you on this?"Jackie asked as he lay prone next to her.

"You didn't have to come, you know.Not you, not the rest of them."Lara thumbed back to the crowd of stuntmen and stuntwomen dressed in black and carrying various weapons.

"Stunt people are crazy, Lara.What other kind of person willingly jumps off a building or tries to jump onto a train while riding a motorcycle?"

"And your excuse?"

"I do my own stunts."

Lara sighed."This isn't a movie, Jackie...real guns, real bullets, real psychos with sharp objects."

"Trying to intimidate a stuntman, ex- or otherwise, is a lost cause.Now how do we get inside _that_ place?"He pointed across the dunes to a palatial mansion surrounded by a wall populated by turbaned gunmen.

"We don't.Tell everybody to fall back."Lara backed down the dune and headed for her dirt bikes.

Jackie followed, a bit confused."Don't tell me you're giving up."

"Not by a long shot."

"They why aren't we going in there?"

"Because David's not there."

Jackie stopped."Lara, I'm sure that somewhere in your next few sentences is an explanation, so don't keep us all in suspense."The other members of Jackie's stunt entourage approached Lara and Jackie with questioning looks.

"Simple.There's a lesson I learned while in university.'What looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck is probably a duck...unless it's a goose.'"

"I don't get it," Carol said, pulling off her hood.

"The trail left by the men who took David led straight to here.There was no doubt in my mind who was responsible; there were clues all over the place where David crashed."

"So?" said Asagi, one of the other stuntmen. 

"That's what bothers me.It's too neat, too perfect.A blind man could've followed the trail back to this place, which makes me wonder if the man who owns this place is even connected at all with what happened.If David were here, I'd know exactly what he'd say...'Lara, if an alibi has the feel of a suit of armor, there's something wrong."

"So what do we do?"

"We dig deeper.Who knows about the guy who owns that place?"

"He is Al-Assid Hussein...he claims to have kinship with the leader of Iraq."Khalid, the Tuareg, turned and spit to his left."He is an arms dealer, a slaver...the bastard son of a flea-ridden, diseased camel and a drunken whore."

"Charming.Would he have taken David?As a slave, or as anything else?"

"No.He hates Americans with a passion.He would've killed any Americans he found."

"Right.So who would benefit if he were to be attacked?Who would gain from his misfortunes?"

Khalid considered, then suggested, "It could be the Moroccan Tiger."

"Who?"

"A foreigner who started up operations years ago.He controls the illegal trade of Western Africa."

"Western..."Lara turned to the west, and stood there for a few minutes.Then he turned to Khalid."Where does he usually operate?"

"Hard to say.He has operations in Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakech, but he travels a great deal.Hard to pin him down.Why the sudden interest in him?Do you think he has David?"

"Maybe.One thing is for sure, some one went to a lot of trouble to get us to go in the wrong direction.If I'm right...then we've been had.Jackie, do you have friends in Cairo?"

"Why?"

"I need a favor from you...I want to set up a stunt."

Johnathan finished his drink and checked his watch._I wonder how the dear boy is doing?I'll have to take a look._"If you'll excuse me, Mr. Morales...our little talk must continue tomorrow.I have to attend to some personal business."With that, he went back down to the dungeon to look in on David.

As he looked into the cell, he tsked softly, "My my, David...you are a mess."

Johnathan wasn't exaggerating.David's left eye was swollen shut and his nose had been broken.Blood clotted on his face and neck.His clothes covered the other bruises.He looked up slowly and spat, "...you shit sonuvabitch...!"

"Now, now, now, David.Don't be such a poor loser.Honestly, I don't know what Lara ever saw in you...one little beating and you lose all composure.A shame."Johnathan grinned."But don't worry.It'll all be over in five hours and the pain will be gone.Oh, it'll get worse first, but it won't take TOO long for your body to give up."

"...when I...get out of here...!!"

"SPARE me your pitiful little whining, your threats.Take it like a man.That's what my father always said to me when he chastised me for not meeting up to his expectations.'Take it like a man, you little bastard.Prove to me that you're really my son.'But, to be honest, his most memorable words were the ones he said to me just before he died.'Thank you for the tea, son.'Those were the last words he ever said to me and I'll always remember them."Johnathan's face took on a sentimental smile."Right before the poison in the tea took effect, anyways.Well, David, I must say that it's been fun.For me, anyways.I'm going to go upstairs and get some rest in my nice feather bed with two young African slaves to keep me nice and warm.Say hello to the rats for me."Johnathan walked upstairs a few steps, then stopped."But to show that I'm not all bad, I'll send down some food a little later.Maybe in a couple of hours.After all, the condemned man is allowed a last meal."

David was silent.He turned away and curled up to rest, to save his strength.As he rested, he allowed himself a smile.Jacobs had given him a serious going-over, but David had faked the amount of pain he was truly in and let Jacobs think that David wasn't able to put up much of a fight.

He shifted slightly, rewarded with pain, but not the kind of pain Jacobs would've hoped for.No major bones were broken, no open wounds.David knew that his nose was broken pretty bad and he couldn't see with his left eye at all._Ah, well...I wasn't that pretty to begin with,_ he told himself half-heartedly, then thumbed his watch to wake him in just over an hour and thirty minutes.

The chance to eat was not something David wanted to miss.

Lara looked out the window of the plane."I can see the lights of Casablanca.Is everyone ready back there?"

"Ready!You sure you've done this before, Lara?"

"Well, once," she yelled over the engines of the cargo plane, "but I was at gunpoint at the time!Alright, gents and ladies, remember...this is the real thing!Anybody who wants to back out now, just don't jump!I want everyone to make sure..."

"Aw, will you give it a rest, already??" yelled one of the stuntmen in the back."This is the kinda shit I LIVE for!!"The others cheered their agreement.

Lara turned to Jackie."They are crazy!" she said with the hint of a smile.

Jackie grinned and gave her a thumb-up, then went to the cockpit to confer with the pilots.As Lara belted herself in, she turned to Khalid."Is this where the Tiger lives?"

"No, but I have family here who say that there have been planes flying in and out, charter planes.That means rich people and that can only mean a party thrown by the owner of the house over there."He pointed through the window to a gathering of lights high above the town, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean."And the Tiger, curse his name, enjoys letting people know how powerful he is."

"Just for asking, what's the Tiger's real name?"

"No one knows.The only certainty is that he is a foreigner."

Lara nodded.A red light came on and Lara yelled, "We're nearing the drop point!Everybody get ready!"

Up in the cockpit, Jackie heard Lara's declaration and turned to the pilot."We need to get in quiet.Can you try gliding us in?"

"Pal, I'm a pilot, not a magician.But I can make things easier for us.Take a look at our three o'clock."

Jackie looked out the window and saw the lights of another plane."What's that?"

"Egypt Air Flight 504.We're angled to come over just as they're on final approach.I go to 60% power, give us plenty of flaps and we sail over, our engines masked by their engines."

"Is that difficult?"

"Depends on what you mean by difficult.If you think that half-gliding a monster this big without pitching into the ground is difficult, then, yeah, it's difficult.Just take off.I'll take it from here."

Jackie nodded, heading back into the cargo area.The pilot put his hand on the throttle and cycled it back, going to 30% flaps and hanging on for dear life.

The door opened and Lara looked down to see the collection of lights just below.She held a fist high, then dropped it as she leaped out the door, stuntmen and stuntwomen leaping in her wake.

The two hours passed by all too quickly.A young, attractive woman in an exotic dress and five-inch heels came down the steps, carrying a tray with some food steaming on it.She was raven-haired and blue-eyed, but there was something in the way she walked that appeared forced, as if it was an effort simply to push aside air by walking.Her face was stone and her gaze was as cold as the golden collar around her neck.

She went to the door and opened it, stepping inside.The figure inside the cell was not moving and she set the tray next to the matted patch of hair on the stone.Suddenly, a strong hand snaked out and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her down.The other hand clamped around the woman's mouth before her scream could escape.

"Don't make a sound, lady." David hissed."I promise not to hurt you.Do you understand?"

The woman nodded.

David slowly brought his hand away.If she wanted to scream for help, she either couldn't or wouldn't.She looked at the man and gasped a little at the sight of his face."What is your name?" David asked through swollen lips.

"M-M-Marla," the woman stammered.

"Nice to meet you, Marla.My name's David."His voice was calm as he regarded the woman."Looks like I'm not the only prisoner here."

"I am not a prisoner.I am a slave.People are prisoners.Slaves are slaves."Her voice cracked, showing an Australian accent.

"Tell you what...how'd you like to get out of here?"

"There is no way out except death for a slave," she said almost automatically, and David got the distinct impression that the sentence must have been drilled into her head to create such an automatic reaction.

"I don't believe it.No security is perfect."David looked up at the stairs."They'll be expecting you to go back up.If you help me to get out of these damn chains, I'll help you escape...and I don't mean by killing you."

"I must go."Marla stood up.

"Remember what I said, Marla...I'll help you if you help me."

The slave stood up and left the cell, closing the door and walking back up the stairs.David turned to the food and was about to dig in when he smelled something odd.He took up the plate and smelled it.The food smelled normal enough._Then what...?_ he mentally asked himself, then saw something about the eating utensils that brought him to full alert.

They were a flat, metallic silver.He looked closer at the knife without picking it up."'Stainless steel,' huh?They why no chrome finish?"David brought his nose down to the knife and sniffed._You sonuvabitch...you didn't poison the food, you poisoned the eating utensils!Whatta sense of humor..._

With that, David picked up the food and began the unlovely but satisfying task of eating an entire meal using his fingers.

Up in the master bedroom, Johnathan watched David with some satisfaction of his own.The two women with him, both gorgeous Nubian women, watched with the pretense of interest.They learned a long time ago that it paid to reflect, or at least appear to reflect, the jaded tastes of their owner.

Johnathan, dressed in a silk bathrobe and smoking a long cigarette, smiled.He figured that David would detect the poison in time.He just enjoyed the sight of David Connors dining like a Neanderthal._Just like the caveman he is, Johnathan mentally snickered.__The big question is, should I stay up until David drops into the feeding frenzy, get some sleep and wake up later, or just sleep through it and catch the recording later?_

Johnathan decided to have some fun with his slaves and get some sleep._After all, I can always watch the recording...that way, I can slo-mo the good bits._

Lara was impressed with Jackie's skill with parachuting._He must be good, to land on that guard like that.Good, or extremely lucky."We've got to find David," she said urgently as the others landed nearby._

Jackie looked around at where they had all landed.."Looks like the top of some sort of warehouse or hangar.I can't see an airstrip nearby, so maybe there's a helicopter inside.Lou, Chuck, Darla, check it out."

"Alright..."Lara hunched down to lower her profile and the others followed suit, closing in on Lara to hear her better."Now, we've got to keep this extremely quiet.There's a great deal of automatic weapons down here," she picked up the weapons belonging to the two unconscious guards on the roof, "if they're all armed like these two were.We can't afford to have them turn this place into a replay of the OK Corral gunfight."

"Don't worry." Jackie grinned, tapping his chest."Kevlar."

"That's not the bloody point.If they start shooting, we lose the element of surprise and David will most likely be killed."

The rest of the group nodded."So what do we do?"

"Strictly hand-to-hand combat.I want a low body count, here.Kill only if you have no other options."Lara took out her binoculars and scanned the area, activating the nightsight function."There's a main building, surrounded by an extensive garden, statues of naked men and women...a courtyard with a huge fountain, no end to our boy's opulence..."After scanning for a few minutes, Lara lowered the binoculars."I count thirty men, all armed with automatic weapons."

"Fair odds.There's twenty of us," said Morgan, a stuntwoman known for working with Ming Na Wen."So how do we proceed?"

Lara looked at Jackie, then at the unconscious guards."Jackie?"

"Yes?"

"What size are you?"

Jackie grinned."I get the idea."

"Not yet, you don't.Everyone, I need to know if you all trust me."

They all looked at each other, then nodded."We're with you all the way," said Morgan.

"I'm glad to hear that.Ladies, take off all your clothes."

"So I tell her, 'Hey, if you don't want to show me what I want to see, you can fucking WALK home!" 

The other two guards laughed at that."That's a good one, Reg!What happened next?"

"Let me put it to you this way...she didn't walk home."Reginald, an ex-Special Forces who went rogue a few years before, grinned and took a drag on his cigarette."I'm telling you, she was sweet.She had..."

"Stow it, Reg.We've got company."Dio hefted his Uzi and stood in front of the gate as a large truck rolled up."Check and see if we've got deliveries tonight."He raised his hand and the truck rolled to a stop in front of the main gate.Dio walked up to the driver's side window."Alright, mate, where's your pass?"

"Emergency delivery!We've got some cargo in the back that needs to get in quick.Orders from the top."

Dio squinted."What kind of cargo?"

The driver raised his cap, obviously in a hurry."You know...CARGO.Go to the back and see for yourself."

Dio called the third guard over."Antione, follow me.Reg, watch this guy."The two men walked to the back of the truck and pulled the flaps aside.Their eyes widened as they saw that there were ten naked women tied up in the back.As Antione stared at the frightened women, Dio jumped down and ran to the front."Mister, you've got a lotta balls making an unscheduled delivery.However..."

"Yes?" the driver asked worriedly.

"You can leave the truck here and your name, we take them in and you get paid after we make sure that the boss okayed this little transaction."

"What about my money??" the driver demanded.

Reginald raised the Uzi."You want to do business with us, pal, you toe the line."

"Meanwhile...Reg, watch this guy.If he tries to stop us, shoot him.Antione and I are going to have a little fun with them first."

"What about me?"

"You'll get your turn...there's about ten of them and three of us.You think you'll be able to handle that?"Dio turned to Antione."Let's go get some."

The driver, dressed in work coveralls and cap, got out as the two guards went to the back of the truck and got in.Reginald looked at the driver, then something caught his eye."Hey."

"What?"

"Anyone ever told you that you look like that Chink in the movies?

"You mean, Jackie Chan?"The driver grinned."Lots of people say I look like him."

"Oh yeah?" Reginald lowered the gun a hair.

Before Reginald knew what hit him, his jaw was forcefully relocated and he dropped to the ground, stunned.Jackie went low and gave him a few more punches to make sure that he was out, then ran to the back.As he rounded the bumper, he saw the bodies of the two men unceremoniously dumped out the back.They hit the ground like dirty sacks of clothes and did not move.

"Is everyone decent in there?" Jackie asked.

Lara poked her head out."I'd say we're much better than simply 'decent'..."She looked down at the guards."Pigs."

"Are they dead?"

"No," Morgan said from inside, "but I wouldn't lay odds on them fathering children anytime in the future."A wounded moan substantiated the statement and Jackie gave him a kick to keep him quiet.

"Yeah, ever get ganged up by a half-dozen angry stuntwomen capable of at least one martial art technique each?It's not pretty."Morgan poked her head out."Alright, everyone's dressed."

"Good.Jackie, you, Theo and Morgan get into the guards' uniforms.Do be so good as to escort us in and drive around a bit.Bang on the ceiling of the cab when we get to a place where some of us can drop out and go to business.We should be able to hear it over the sound of the engine."

"Hey, Lara...there's some stuff in the back of this truck you should take a look at." came Leung's voice.

Lara walked to the back and pulled out a penlight, shining it at the labels on the box.She grinned."Oh, this is just TOO good."

"What is it?" Jackie asked.

"Dynamite.Three boxes' worth."She opened one of the boxes and looked inside."Great Heavens above..." she breathed.

"What??" asked Morgan, worried.

"This dynamite isn't very new."

Morgan came over to see the red sticks packed in sawdust.Minute beads of clear liquid appeared here and there on the sticks."What's that stuff?"

"The dynamite is sweating...meaning that it's rather unstable.A good sneeze could set it off."

"Let me take a look," came another voice, a woman with a thin wiry build."I used to be an SFX jockette."She walked to the boxes and looked inside."They're not that bad.In fact, these could work for us.They don't have any blasting caps or primacord here."

"So how can we use them?"

"Sneeze, maybe?"That remark earned Jackie quite a few sour looks.

"Let's get going," Lara insisted."Jackie, you drive.The rest of you, leave those things alone.I am quite fond of praying to God, but I am in no hurry to speak to him face-to-face just yet."

At that moment, David was wondering what he was going to say to God if he didn't get out of there before feeding time.David had a feeling that he was going to be rather embarrassed standing in front of the Big Guy.

The discarded dishes and silverware lay where he'd left them and he could feel some of his strength returning, but unless Marla came back to help him, the next meal in that cell was going to be supplied _by_ David instead of _to_ him.

He checked his watch.Only thirty minutes left.

The truck rolled up to the front door.As two of the four guards around the ostentatious double doors walked out to flank the truck, they raised their weapons carefully.As they saw the uniforms of their comrades from the gate, the guns lowered.The truck came to a stop and the driver opened the door, then fell out, a strangled moan coming from his mouth.

The two guards rushed over and called for assistance to the other guards.Before the other two guards could get to the truck, however, they were met by five women, all holding Uzis.The lead woman, Morgan, held a finger in front of her lips and whispered, "Shhhhhhhh."

The sounds of six brief, but powerful impacts came from the driver's side of the truck.Lara jumped out as Jackie came from the other side of the truck."Feels good not to need to hold back."

"Glad you approve.Gentlemen, drop your weapons, or you'll be shot.Quite often, I'm afraid."

The guards dropped the Uzis.

"Kick them over here."

They did so, sour looks on their faces.

"Congratulations.You get to live tonight.Alright, let's get these boys tied up." Lara claimed two of the Uzis and smiled as she held one in each hand."Spread out.Hold off on actual use of those guns until absolutely necessary.And for God's sake, be careful."

"Come on!" Morgan whispered and those that had not jumped from the truck before it had reached the front doors now piled out, ready for action.She picked up a radio from one of the tied-up guards."Collect these from the guards.Split up into groups and give one to the leader of each group.Switch them to channel....sixty-three.Use them only when you need to.If you hear any chatter from a male, switch to the next channel.We don't know which channels the guards use and we don't want to tip our hands just yet."

"Hurry!" Lara hissed."We don't know how much time we have until we're discovered."

"Go!"Morgan and the others disappeared into the gardens.

Lara turned to Jackie."Looks like it's just you and me."

Jackie nodded, then went to the door."Let's go!"

David heard steps coming down the stairs and looked up to see Marla cautiously coming down.She was dressed more sedately, wearing a black blouse and pants with tennis shoes."David?"

"Still here."David sat up."I've only got a few minutes left!"

Marla ran to the cell door and opened it quickly, then ran in and started unlocking his leg cuffs.

"Thanks for coming back," David said gratefully.

"You'd better be right about this, David," Marla said in a cold voice, "I still don't know why I'm doing this.We're going to get caught as soon as we leave the dungeon."She pulled open the first cuff.

"Then why are you doing this?" David returned gently.

"I don't know." said Marla.David could see that she was crying softly"God, look at me...I didn't think I had any tears left after being a slave for all these years."She removed the other leg cuff and went to work on the cuffs on David's wrists. 

"How long?"

"I don't want to talk about it, not now.I'll tell you about it later, once we get out of here.IF we get out of here."Marla had just opened the cuff on David's right wrist when they both heard a sound from behind the right wall.

The sound of gears grinding.

Marla turned to David, but before she could say a word, the floor below them fell away.

The guards at the security station were a little busy.

They had started their shift by "tasting" the charms of a slave woman that, despite Johnathan's strict rules, had enticed the guards into leaving their screens for an hour.After a heated bout of passion, both the guards were a bit slow getting back to their station.

When they did, they had a surprise waiting for them.

As they walked in, the two guards saw that there was a truck at the gate and the security camera in the dungeon was pointing at the sight of two people dropping into the pool below…and one of them was the slave they had molested!

"Luke!Get on the phone to the Boss!Tell him..."His voice trailed off as he felt a gun barrel poking the back of his neck.Luke turned around to see his friend being held at bay by two strangers, a man and a woman, dressed in the clothes of the missing guards.

"Get away from the phone!" Jackie ordered.Luke backed away slowly as Lara came in, looking at the scanners.

Camera 17, marked "PIRANHA POOL," held her riveted to the screen."Oh, my God!DAVID!!"

David gritted his teeth as he gripped the length of chain tighter, equally tightening his grip on Marla's wrist.He had just managed to grab her when they fell, holding her only a few inches over the surface of the water.Drops of blood from David's wounds dripped into the water, and he could see small, fast-moving shapes zeroing in on them."MARLA!HOLD ON!"

"I...can't..." Marla said, nearly dropping into the water when David tightened his grip."Let me go...I'm only a slave...!"

"Either...we both go..."David ground his teeth against the pain and started pulling Marla up."..._or nobody goes!!"_

Marla grabbed David's torn pants.The patch she held ripped away and she fell back.She looked down and saw the water churning under her as the piranha were driven into a feeding frenzy by David's blood.

"CLIMB!" David ordered.Marla looked back up again and started to pull herself up by using David's clothes and body as a ladder.When she grasped the lip of the pit, David began to pull himself back up and out of the pit.The pain in his back and arms reached incandescent levels just as he threw a leg up over the lip of the opening and managed to shove himself up to level, firm stone.

Marla leaned over him, cupping his face.He wasn't moving and his breathing was shallow."David?David...say something...!"

Lara turned back to the guards, venom dripping from her lips."TELL ME WHERE THAT ROOM IS RIGHT NOW."She raised the guns and shoved each barrel into each of the guards' mouths, chipping teeth."OR, BY HARRY, I"LL BLOW YOUR GODDAMNED BRAINS OUT!"

Jackie was taken aback by Lara's impromptu rendering of Linda Blair in THE EXORCIST and wondered just what Lara would be capable of if pushed to the wall...and found himself a little afraid of the concept.And Jackie Chan was not one who scared easily.

"Ah ca tawk wif a gu' i' my mouf..." Luke said.

"Try," Lara said coldly.

"David!!Say something!"Fear crept into Marla's voice.

"...something...." David whispered tiredly.

"David!!"Marla threw her arms around David in relief.

"Ouch...!" David said, wincing."Careful, Marla...my ribs aren't what they used to be.As in healthy."David got up, nearly falling to his knees, then getting up again.

"I'm sorry!I'm...just glad to know you're alive."

"Me too..."David's voice stopped as he heard gunfire from outside."Uh oh."

"What's going on?It sounds like we're under siege or something."

"We are...and I think I know by whom.Come on!"David took Marla's hand and they ran up the dungeon stairs.

"Damn!"Lara looked around as she saw the guards breaking into a run, cocking their Uzis."Looks like our cover's blown!"She picked up the radio from her belt."Morgan, Carol, report!"

"Heavy resistance...we've taken out twelve of them silently, but one of them got lucky and noticed us."

"Damn!"Lara took cover behind a column as a group of guards opened fire on her and Jackie."Anyone hurt?"

"Nothing a year in the Bahamas couldn't fix!"

"Right!Hold your positions and just let them come to you."

"No worries there.Out."

Lara turned to Jackie, who was hosing the group of guards, forcing them to take cover."We've been discovered, Jackie, and we've still got to find David!"

"If he's still alive!" Jackie yelled, taking cover as the guards returned fire.Bullets chipped into the stone and plaster of the columns.

"He's alive, Jackie!He's harder to kill than you think!"Lara turned and ran from her hiding place.When the guards came out to shoot at her, Lara sprayed the area with deadly accuracy, somersaulting into the air and still shooting.All but one of the guards were hit and they fell back.Lara landed and skidded around, facing the last guard.

Faced with twin Uzis, the guard dropped his gun and raised his hands."All right, all right!!I give up!"

"The devil you say," Lara snarled, jumping at him and Uzi-whipping him with both weapons.The guard dropped to the ground, unable to wake up for hours.

Jackie whistled in appreciation."Now I KNOW you weren't exaggerating..."

"LARA!" came a voice from above and she and Jackie turned to look up.

Lara's mouth opened in shock as she saw her cousin, Johnathan, spectacles askew, standing at the top of the stairs."JOHNATHAN??What in the name of all that's holy are you DOING here???"

"The answer to that, dearest cousin, is rather simple."Johnathan pulled out a 9mm pistol and pointed it right at her."I'm killing you."

Lara was frozen in shock, her mind unwilling to believe that her own cousin, particularly one she'd always thought of as reserved and unassuming, was about to kill her.Jackie turned as he heard a door open behind him.

Then Lara saw the flash as Johnathan's gun went off and felt the near simultaneous impact to her left side.She dropped to the ground, surprised.She'd been shot before, but there was no pain this time.

Johnathan looked down at Lara with a smile as he pulled the trigger, then his smile curled into a scowl."DAMN YOU!!" he yelled, firing twice in the direction of the group, then decided that now was as good a time as any to escape.He ran to the other side of the balcony and turned left, moving down the hall at high speed.

Lara looked up to see David cradling Marla in his arms, Jackie standing over the both of them as the gunfire continued outside."David...what...?"

"Come on, Marla...hold on...dammit, hold on!"He held the woman tight as blood poured out of the hole in her chest.

"...hurts...David...?"Marla looked up at David and raised her hand to his face slowly.

"I'm here, Marla.I'm here."David squeezed his eyes shut, then blinked tears away.

"...couldn't...let you break...your promise..."Marla coughed and a spot of blood flew into the air.She smiled."David...?"

"Marla, hold on, you're going to be just fine."He looked up at Lara as she examined Marla then looked up at David, shaking her head.

"...free..." Marla whispered, then shuddered.Her eyes closed and her body went limp as what was once Marla left her.

"Marla?Marla?!" David begged.

"David, she's gone."Jackie put a hand on David's shoulder."There's nothing we can do."

David's head rose to look up once again, and the fire in his eyes threatened to boil the tears on his cheeks."Oh yes there is," he growled, standing up."We're getting everyone we can out of this hellhole and then I'm going to break that bastard Johnathan in HALF!"

"No you're not."

David turned to look at Lara."Don't tell me you're protecting him!Marla took the bullet he shot at you!"

"Don't be absurd, David.You take care of the other prisoners here._I'm_ going after Johnathan."

"But..."

"Don't 'but' me, Dave.I need you to help the others.Not even Jackie has the experience you have in this situation, and you're in no shape to run after Johnathan.Besides...he's _my_ cousin.This is a family matter now."

David grudgingly nodded.As Lara picked up her Uzis again, he said, "Promise me you'll get that sonuvabitch!"

Lara turned back to look at him.In the smoke and the dim light of the room, Lara Croft looked cold and lethal."That's a promise, David."Then she ran up the stairs and took the hallway she'd seen Johnathan take.

"All RIGHT.Jackie, come with me.I think I know where the other slaves are kept."

"Be careful, David, you look horrible and there's probably more guards ahead of us," Jackie said cautiously.

David picked up an Uzi and some spare clips from the fallen guards."GOD, I hope so..." he said, acid dripping from each word."I feel a pressing need to work out some aggressions."

_Stupid bitches,_ Johnathan thought as he ran out to the balcony, then thumbed the hidden switch behind the vase on his left._Why must women like Lara Croft always be the banes of my existence??Why can't they just stay in their proper places, serve when they're supposed to and DIE when they're supposed to??_He felt the balcony lower to the ground.Off in the distance, just under a mile away, he saw his private heliport and the helicopter waiting there.As he saw the blur of the rotors in the dim light, he smiled._All I need to do is get to England first...from there, I can have all the resources I need to make sure that Lara Croft never lives to tell her side of the..._

His thoughts trailed off as he saw a fast-moving trail of smoke fly towards the helicopter and a blinding flash as his private ride blew into a million pieces."Bloody...HELL!" he exclaimed, turning back to the house and seeing a figure in a window with a large tube in his hands.

David leaned into view and waved to Johnathan as Jackie dropped the Stinger missile launcher."HI, JOHNNY!NICE ARMORY YOU'VE GOT UP HERE!BE A REAL SHAME IF ANYTHING HAPPENED TO IT...!!!"

"THAT was fun!" Jackie said in awe."So that's what firing a real missile launcher is like.You're right, David, it is a lot different from a movie prop."

"BASTARDS!" Johnathan yelled, then realized that he had bigger problems than simply losing a fifty-million-dollar arms shipment.He caught a glimpse of Lara Croft running after him, and at that point in his life, Johnathan was more worried about his older cousin that he ever was about a few militia skinhead groups.His mind raced as he looked for a way out, then saw a truck off to his right.Johnathan smiled as he made for the truck._That cunt may be able to out-shoot me, but she can't run faster than a truck!_

Lara saw Johnathan turn to his right._Where the hell is HE going?_ she asked herself, then saw the truck parked out in front of the house.She grabbed the radio and barked, "Morgan!Did you leave the keys in the blasted truck??"

"Yes, why?"

"Damn!!"Lara threw away the radio in frustration and churned her legs faster.

Johnathan got to the truck and smiled, turning the ignition key.The truck rumbled as it turned over, then caught._Fortune smiles,_ he thought, backing up the truck and throwing it into first gear.

Lara came up behind the truck as Johnathan shifted into second, sweat beading on her as she pushed her tired muscles more demandingly.At that moment, she didn't care about anything except making Johnathan pay, and pay dearly, for what he'd done.

_BUT TO DO THAT, I'VE GOT TO CATCH THAT BLASTED TRUCK!!_

Johnathan shifted into third and the truck moved away from Lara with a burst of speed.

_NO!!_ Lara mentally screamed and jumped for the tailgate, arms outstretched...

And missed.

David and Jackie found the slave pens, but what they found in the pens made them want to retch.The cells nearest the door were filled with attractive women of all races and ages.Jackie saw the blank looks of a group of thirteen- and fourteen-year olds and grimaced, cursing in Chinese.

David found the "training pens" and stopped.Inside were thirty women of varying ages strapped into some sort of harness that kept them trapped and their bodies open to whomever wanted to exercise their twisted fantasies on them.Many had the look of the terminally drugged and some even looked up at David with a lecherous smile as he approached."...want some, handsome...treat you right..." they murmured.As David saw one smiling with missing teeth, he staggered to a wall, leaned against it, and threw up.

Jackie had seen some serious situations before in Hong Kong, but even HE was feeling sick.The smell of yesterday's lust and urine did little to help."Jesus...!!" he said in horror.

"No carpenter's son had anything to do with _this_...try the other direction..."David said queasily."Come on.Let's get these women out of this pit."

And the sound of men promising freedom, the trance for most of the women broke as they realized that David and Jackie weren't down in the slave pens for the same reasons as their other "visitors'.Many started to cry, beg and plead, even as their cells were unlocked and their shackles broken.Few wore anything, and Jackie had to scramble to get some blankets and clothes for them from some of the adjoining rooms.As he helped the women cover themselves, Jackie took great pleasure in tossing the provocative clothes and lingerie into a pile, then dousing them with oil from one of the oil lanterns and setting them ablaze."David, how are we going to get all these people out of here?"

"Call the authorities."

"Most of them are probably paid off."

David frowned."Never a good cop around when you need one.Alright, Jackie, go back to the guards' station one floor up.Radio to anyone with a cargo plane or anything we can use."

"I know a couple of people in Florida that does large charter planes.They may even have a passenger plane or two."

"Call 'em.Get them over here."

"It'll take a few hours."

"Do it.Tell them we've got free jet fuel over here they can use for the return trip.That'll get their attention."

"Where do I tell them to land?"

"There's an airstrip out there somewhere, otherwise they would need some alternate way of transporting all their loot.Find it."

"If it's out there, I'll find it."Jackie ran to the door, then turned."Where do I tell them to land?"

"Tell them to look for the burning mansion on the coast," David replied.The women cheered.

"Finally!"Johnathan shifted into fourth gear."Now all I have to do is take care of my alibi and get rid of Lara and I'm home free."

"Sorry to disappoint, DEAR cousin," came a female voice from behind him, "but I think you might have some difficulty on both counts."

Johnathan turned and exclaimed in disbelief, "LARA!"

Lara was hanging off the tarpaulin cover of the truck, her legs still dirty from the rough ride she'd taken when she'd missed the tailgate, but grabbed the bumper instead.After pulling herself up, Lara had noted the bruises and scrapes on her leg, but put them aside."Johnathan, give it up!There's nowhere you can go that I won't find and catch you!"

"Go to HELL, 'dear cousin'!"Johnathan steered the truck against the right side of the road, forcing the side of the truck against the foliage of the trees.After a few seconds, he pulled away and looked at the rear-view mirror on the right side.

Lara was gone.

Jackie went back to the hangar.It didn't take him long to see the handiwork of the stuntmen who stayed behind; there was a small pile of moaning bodies trussed up with duct tape right behind the main doors.As he went inside, he saw a smashed guardhouse and lots of brass bullet casings on the floor.It didn't take much for Jackie to realize that the guards had been firing in all directions.He caught some movement out of the corner of one eye and spun around to see Asagi spring down from his hiding place on top of one of the forklifts.

"From the look of you, Jackie, you've been busy."

"Our work isn't over yet.We've got to find where the airstrip is.David thought it might have been camouflaged."

"He wasn't kidding.I discovered this when I was turning on the lights."Asagi led Jackie over to a large switch."I haven't found out what THIS switch does, but I don't think it's a self-destruct trigger.Want to do the honors?"

Jackie reached up and pulled the large switch down.There was a flash as the metal contacts met, then a shuddering sensation from the floor.The two stuntmen ran outside to see the gardens pulling aside, parting to reveal a length of concrete.

"Now I know how Moses felt," Jackie quipped as he saw a long runway rise into place.Asagi laughed, then heard a CRUMP and turned to see explosions rocketing out of the windows of the mansion, starting from below and spiraling up the floors.

"Maybe it WAS a self-destruct trigger," Asagi breathed in awe as he watched the explosions systematically decimating the structure.

"No...I think it's David getting some resentments out on the house.See if you can contact the others, get them over here as fast as you can."Jackie looked up at the Boeing 777 parked in the middle of the hangar."And see if any of them know how to fly this thing.From what I saw, we're going to need all the transportation we can get.Since the owner won't be claiming it, I can use it to pay off a couple of pilots in Florida.They should be happy to trade some airlifting for some free jet fuel and a free passenger plane, don't you think?"Jackie winked.

"Jackie...you're having far too much fun.By the way, what is your publicist going to say when he finds out that you've been 'freelancing'?"

"What makes you think I'm going to tell him?I may be crazy, Asagi...but I am not stupid.I'll just tell him I took a short vacation."

Asagi looked at the burning mansion."SOME vacation, Jackie."

"Yeah, I liked it, too."

Johnathan laughed as he stepped on the gas."Looks like you're not nearly as tough as you say you are, Lara Croft."

Then the windshield spiderwebbed as a length of chain smashed into the safety glass.

Johnathan swore as he swerved, but Lara was on the top, not the side.She hauled back with the heavy chain she'd taken from the back of the truck and nailed the windshield again, caving it in.Johnathan felt the flying glass and panicked, running the truck to the right again and taking a road leading down to the beach by mistake.

As soon as Lara saw the beach coming up, she recalled what a speeding truck would do when it met loose, dry sand.She also recalled the truck's cargo."Ta ta, cousin!I'm sorry to hear that you won't be able to make it to my next birthday party!!"With that, she leaped off the roof of the cab into the waiting branches of a tree, then slid to the ground and watched the truck barrel on.

Johnathan blinked through the rush of air and glass, trying to see and dearly wishing he hadn't switched from his usual glasses to contact lenses the night before.He barely saw the expanse of sand coming up at him, but when he did, it was too late to turn.

"YAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" he screamed as the truck jumped the curb, flying into the air for an impressive twenty feet, then landing hard as the front bumper met the sand and stopped the vehicle dead in its flight.Johnathan was hurled through the broken windshield and landed hard, breaking his neck and paralyzing him irrevocably.

However, he stayed alive long enough to see the truck roll over on top of him and feel the heat of the explosion as over fifty sticks of sweating TNT blew both him and the truck to small bits.

As it turned out, though, he should've been glad for the excess heat before he died.Considering where he was headed, it was only fair that he should get properly prepared for the conditions of where he would be spending the rest of eternity.

Lara watched the explosion with a great sense of satisfaction, but she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Johnathan, wondering what sort of life he must've had to let his perceptions of the world get so twisted.But it didn't last long.As the fire baked the sand into dirty glass, Lara Croft knew that Johnathan was never forced into becoming what he was._He chose his own path,_ she reminded herself.

Then she remembered David, Jackie and the others, and turned her back on the carnage to travel the long miles back to the mansion.

EPILOGUE

"OUCH!"The cry echoed through Lara Croft's home.

"Lara, you big baby, will you settle down!"David sighed as he changed the dressing on Lara's legs, applying some antibiotics and disinfectant ointment."If I don't apply this stuff, your legs aren't going to be healed in time for your lecture at Oxford.Now, do you want to stand up in front of all those people looking like you borrowed a mummy's legs?Not the image you want to project while lecturing on Ancient Nippon."

"Nag.OUCH!David Connors, you did that on purpose!"

"Look, it's either this or the iodine.The burning, _stinging_ iodine."

"Look, just do something to take my mind off this," Lara said irritably.

"Alright.I just got a call from Jackie's publicist.The rest of the movie is going well, and it looks like OPERATION CONDOR is going to pull in some big bucks.He also says that Jackie wanted to say, 'I wish I could've been able to use most of the other combat scenes.'Jackie's publicist didn't know what that meant."

"Did you tell him?" Lara managed a smile.

"What, that Jackie risked his life and his career for people he barely knew?That wouldn't do much for the guy's heart, you know."

"Who, Jackie?"

"No, the publicist."David grinned.

"How are the others?"

"Well, the women we found in the slave pits are being reunited with their loved ones.It's not completely good news; some of the parents and relatives can't deal with the reality of what happened or what the women went through.Some of the women are being shunned by their friends and relatives, as if it were _their_ fault they got kidnapped and put into slavery.However, I put a call in to some reporters I know in New York.They say they'll run the story, leaving our names out of it, of course."

"Of course."Lara winced as she felt the gauze reapplied.

"They say that the stories might get enough media attention that others will contribute money to help these discarded women get on their feet again.I gave them an account number they can use for the fund."

"Really?One of my accounts?"

"Whaddya think I am?One of mine!" David looked hurt, but then, Lara had taped up and bound up his own injuries only minutes before."I even put in some money to start it off."

"Why, Dave, you softy, you.I'll put in some, myself.What about our 'partners in crime'?"

"It's a good thing the Stuntpeople's Union of Hollywood is a good sport about fourteen of their best stuntwomen put in the hospital with REAL gunshot wounds.Otherwise, we'd have a billion lawsuits on our hands.The ladies are doing just fine, in fact, I've got calls from eight of them asking to join us the next time we go on an expedition, Jackie included.They're thrilled."

"Oh my.We'll have an entourage."

"Don't get me started on that."David secured the bandages."There.You're done."

"Good.Any more of that torture and I'd be crippled."Lara took her crutches in hand and raised herself up.

David sobered a little."Talk to your dad yet about Johnathan?"

"No."

"You're going to have to tell him sometime."

Lara didn't answer.She walked to the window and looked out at the gardens."I'm not looking forward to this, you know."

"Yeah, I can tell.It's all going to come out sooner or later."

"He's an old man, Dave.The shock could kill him."

"That's up to God, Lara.YOU have to do the right thing...and you know it."

Lara sighed."I know.David?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you...will you come with me when I tell him?If nothing else, for moral support?"

"You already know the answer to that."

Lara turned to David."You've given up a lot for me, David.Your business, your home..."

"My hormones," David added jokingly.

"I just keep asking myself, David...when does Cinderella's carriage turn back into a pumpkin?When are you going to leave me?"

David stared at her."Lara, I'm not going anywhere.The only way I'm leaving is if you tell me to leave."He turned back to the sunset in the graying sky."And I haven't heard you say that yet."

"And you won't, David."

"Things change, Lara."

"Yes, Dave, they do."Lara leaned closer and put an arm around David, taking care not to squeeze his bruised ribs."But sometimes, despite all odds, they improve and get better.Maybe we weren't the starry-eyed people we were when we first met, but I'd like to think that we're a little wiser now...and a little closer."

David didn't answer, but Lara saw his smile growing in the fading light.


	12. Webs Of The Widow

Webs Of The Black Widow

**By C. Mage and Dayne Chastant**

David clicked off the TV in Lara's room and got up from the bed, feeling quite fatigued. It had been quite a night, and David had finally gotten to sleep at three in the morning.

The problem was, he was the only one in the bed.

He got up and went to the bathroom to grab a shower. Ever since Lara had gone to Oxford to give her lectures on first and second-century Japan, David felt unmotivated and listless. Even the recent purchase of a Sony PlayStation™ and some video games failed to break him out of his morose mood. He had spent the night before alternately playing video games and trying out the new obstacle course Lara had completed a few months before.Until Lara had left, he hadn't used it much at all, but now he was spending time on it constantly, bordering on obsessively. For three solid days, he occupied his time by exercising and running through the course over and over again, punctuated only by meals, sleep and calls of nature.

One might've called it boredom if it weren't for the looks towards the front gate that David gave every so often.

As he stepped out of one of the pools of water in the course, the butler came out of the house, bearing a headset phone. David looked at the aged man and had to feel sorry for him. After all, he thought, keeping up with Lara Croft is no easy task. I can barely do it myself. "Hi, Mannfred.What's the haps?"

"Phone call for you, sir," Mannfred said tiredly.

"Really???" David picked up the phone. "Lara?"

"Sorry, hon. Wrong girl."

David's face fell like icebergs in spring. "Who is this?"

"Now, I'm surprised at you, David...how can you not remember me? The Midtown Slasher case ring any bells?"

Recognition sprouted like a weed. "Mace Daniels."

"None other. So, hot stuff, how you been doing? I missed ya."

"Yeah, only because you're still pulling to the left when you shoot," David said sourly. He remembered Mace, alright, more than he liked. In many ways, Mace Daniels was similar to Lara Croft: busty, quite attractive, combat-capable, active lifestyles, prone to wearing tight clothing while working. However, the similarities ended when definitions of personality came around. Mace was as circumspect as Lara was direct. Lara was aware of her good looks, but Mace made everyone around her aware of her good looks.Where Lara Croft was no-nonsense and serious, Mace Daniels was hot-blooded and mercurial. And where Lara was rather selective about her lovers, not to mention cautious, Mace would screw any good-looking men she saw...after teasing them for a while first.

"Not any more."

"So what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call?" David asked pointedly.

"I told you, I missed you...and, well..."

"You need my help."

"NEED is a pretty strong word, Davey."

"Call me 'Davey' one more time, Mace, and next thing you'll hear is a dial tone. You know I hate that name."

"Okay, okay, relax...! Sheesh, if I'd known the English air was going to make you cranky, I would've called earlier. What's wrong, David? Your new girlfriend not putting out?"

"I'm going to count to one, as fast as I can, and then I'm going to hang up...!"

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!!! I give, I'm sorry, I apologize, I abase myself, okay??"

David took a deep breath. Mace Daniels always did have that effect on him."What do you want, Mace?"

"I would like your help on an assignment."

"Why me? Why not call Hawk, or lease that psycho Jackson from prison again?"

"Hawk and I are having a slight difference of opinion at the moment..."

"Translation: you got into a fight. With Hawk. AGAIN."

"...and Jackson's too heavy-duty for this kind of job. I need finesse, not a wrecking crew."

"Give me one good reason why I should."

"It'll be fun working together again?" Mace asked. David knew she was grinning by the sound of her voice.

"I said a GOOD reason."

"Look, I can't go into details on the phone...let's just say that it involves an old friend of yours from Chinatown. A certain Mr. Sung."

David was suddenly all ears. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He sighed. "Alright, Mace, but you owe me one. BIG time. I'll be on the next plane from Heathrow and I'll call your cellular once I'm in the air to let you know when and where I'm coming in. Is it still the same number?"

"No, I had it changed a few times."

"Yeah, and I think I know why. Just give me the number." David read it back to her to make sure he had memorized it completely, then hung up."Mannfred, I've got to go back to the United States for a few days. When Lara gets back, tell her that I won't be long."

"Certainly, Master David."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go pack." David started to walk back to the manor, then turned. "Oh, and Mannfred?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Get some rest."

"Thank you, sir," Mannfred said, meaning it.

Lara pulled herself out of the ruined area of the Great Wall of China and dusted herself off. _I swear, if I NEVER see another Tyrannosaurus Rex again, it'll be far too soon. Spielberg's to blame for this, I'm sure of it._ She took out her satphone and dialed up the manor. I'd better let David know that I'm going to be a trifle late.

"Croft Manor," came the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Mannfred, have Dave come to the phone."

"Lady Croft, Master David had to leave abruptly. On his way out, he mentioned that he had to take care of an old debt in the States and would be back in a few days."

Lara was mildly relieved. "Good. That gives me time to take care of a few things here. I won't be coming home for a few days, Mannfred." She looked up as the helicopter she chartered came into view. "Something's come up. If David contacts you or gets home before I do, please let him know."

"Certainly," Mannfred replied.

Lara hung up the phone and reached out for the rope that swung into reach.

_Time to get a wiggle on...Venice, here I come._

David got off the plane and looked around for Mace. He doubted that he would have much trouble picking her out; Mace Daniels was not subtle in her sense of fashion. On the other hand, David had worn a suit, a practice he had picked up hanging around some of Lara's friends. He'd actually gotten used to them, but Lara had to pick out the styles for him. While David's deductive abilities were top-notch when it came to criminology, when it came to men's fashion, David didn't have a clue.

"Dave!"

David turned to see Mace Daniels walking towards him. She was dressed in black leather pants, a leather halter top and a red leather bolero jacket.The sway in her hips was evident even from where David stood at the gate."Geez, Mace, don't you wear anything but leather anymore?" he asked as she got closer.

"Look who's talking." Mace reached out and fingered his tie. "Nice suit, David. Nice tie. Lose a bet?"

"Enough already. If you came here to bust my chops about clothes..." David did crack a small smile, however. "Look, let's just get out of here, okay?"

"Fine with me. My bike's out this way."

_A motorcycle. Figures._ "So tell me about Sung."

"Two days ago, he disappears. I hear about it when somebody tries to break into his place and the police are called by his security system. They get there and the perp's caught, but the place has been empty for too long and they get a call from Sung's daughter that he missed an appointment to have lunch with her."

David nodded as they walked out of the terminal. "Doesn't sound like Sung.He never misses a lunch with relatives, he's too traditionally minded."

"That's what I thought. Anyway, it's been four days now, and nobody's heard from him. Thought you wanted to know, him being your friend and all that, but it took me a bit of searching to find you in England. You didn't exactly leave a forwarding address and Lara Croft wasn't listed."

"Too many people around here would like to see my lungs filled with water from the Hudson. No thanks. How'd you connect me with her, anyway?"

"Elementary, my dear David. You and her were in the papers about a year ago. Something about a problem at a museum?"

"Oh, yeah. Part of Lara's past needed to be re-buried. Or in this case, cremated."

"Who?"

"Trust me, you don't wanna know. The woman who wanted Lara's butt waxed was smart, rich and a certifiable wacko. Long story." David stopped as Mace walked to a Kawasaki Ninja. "THAT'S your bike?"

"Sure. Get on, hotshot, and hold on tight. I like going fast." Mace grinned as she jumped astride the crotch-rocket.

"Some things don't change. So, where to first?"

"Sung's house. Let's see if we can't pick up a clue or two." Mace gunned the engine and David held on tight to avoid falling off, which suited Mace just fine.

The house in question was an apartment building that had been hollowed out to serve as a karate school. The first floor was a wide area with a mat in the center, with offices in the back and a side hallway leading to the upper two floors, where Sung and his trainers lived. Mace parked the bike out front and got off. David stepped to the door and picked the lock. As he did so, he looked through the glass doors to find that the floor was empty and the lights dark. David reached under his jacket and pulled out a Desert Eagle .50 pistol.

Mace turned to David and cocked an eyebrow. "You always draw your gun when investigating an empty school?"

"Look to your right," David said softly. "And keep your voice down."

Mace turned to see a paper on the door with a schedule of classes on it."So?"

"According to that paper, there should be two classes going on right now, one for seven-to-ten year olds and one for teens."

Mace turned back to David. "You got all that from just walking past it?"

David smiled secretly. "You mean you didn't?"

"Smart-ass." Mace pulled out a 9mm Beretta. "What's the plan?"

"You check the offices, I'll go upstairs." David walked to the hallway leading to the stairs. "And watch your butt, Mace."

"I'd rather watch yours. And such a nice, tight butt, too."

"Ha. Ha. Ha." David moved to the stairs and looked up the stairwell. There was no sign of anyone, so he took the stairs up, step-by-cautious-step and checked the first floor. The rooms were unlocked and a check inside revealed neat, orderly rooms, with no sign of a struggle. However, there were no signs of Mr. Sung or his staff. A search of the second floor revealed the same thing, but David was alerted to a strange fact.

The dressers were very low on clothes.

He went back downstairs to see Mace, who was going through the files.

"Anything?"

"Not yet. You?"

"It's odd...there's no sign of a fight or struggle, and the staff apparently packed their clothes to go somewhere." David went to the trashcan and started looking through it.

"What are you looking for in there? Used coffee grounds?"

"Mace, you're still quite new to the P.I. biz, so let me give you a tip. If you want to know about someone on an intimate level without them knowing about it, go through their garbage. It...wait." He pulled out a wad of stiff paper and opened it up."

"What's it say? Is it a ransom note?"

"No...it's a sign." David turned it around to reveal a white cardstock sign with red lettering: "ON VACATION FROM 12-04-97 to 12-15-97. ALL CLASSES WILL BE SUSPENDED UNTIL THEN." "What's the date today?"

"The sixth. You think the kidnappers left the sign to cover their tracks?"

"Doubtful. If they wanted to throw people off, why did they throw the sign into the trash?They could've saved themselves a lot of trouble simply by taking it with them or shredding it to make sure no one would read it."

Mace looked at the sign. "How can we be sure?"

David dropped the sign on the desk. "Sung's not only a traditionalist, but he's also somewhat anal-retentive. Let's see...yes." He opened the desk and took out an organizer, leafing through the pages until David found the number he was looking for. He picked up the phone, dialed the number and waited.

"What are you doing?" Mace asked.

"Shhhhh. Hello, Miku? Hi, this is David. Is your father there? Really?That's nice. Okay...yeah. Got it. Alright, I'll try calling him later.Bye." David hung up.

"Well?"

"That was Miku, Sung's daughter. Sung went on a promotional tour in China; the school's sponsor got a donation from an anonymous benefactor to send them there."

"Wait a minute...the police said that her daughter said that she hadn't heard from her father."

"Who told them that?"

"Sung's daughter called them by phone..." Mace stopped. "A fake?"

"Maybe."

"What the hell's going on, David?" Mace said in consternation, walking towards the door. "This is nuts! Sung's not gone missing after all...David, don't look at me like that, I didn't make this shit up! I don't know anything about this except what I got from the police."

"I know. You may be a somewhat good detective, Mace, but you're a poor liar. Something doesn't add up." David looked at his watch. "It's getting late.Let's go back to your office. I want to open Sung's file and see what we may have missed."

The barrel just missed Lara by a hair and she rolled forward, springing back to her feet and running from the two armed thugs following her and spraying lead down the hallway. Normally, she would've drawn her pistols and blown them both off the face of the Earth, but she had one slight problem.

Lara was, for once, completely unarmed.

Not willingly, of course. She had followed Marco Bartolli to the amphibian cargo plane and had found out more about his plans, but she had forgotten to take into account that she might not be the only one in the cargo hold.A thug with a pipe wrench had sent her into unconsciousness and Bartolli had thrown her into a cell for later interrogation, figuring to grill her later about what she knew.

As it turned out, that was a fatal mistake, since Lara had managed to find a hidden switch that opened the cell from the inside, a protective measure Bartolli had overlooked. However, the offshore rig where Bartolli was running his salvage operations was loaded, literally, with armed guards with no compunctions about shooting first and apologizing later. At that moment, Lara wasn't completely sure whom the error was going to be fatal to; Bartolli or herself.

As she leaped across a gap in the concrete catwalk, she wished for the thousandth time that she'd asked David to come along to watch her back. Of course, he hadn't been there to get the call, but she could've asked Mannfred to have David meet her in Venice.

Lara paused to take a breath and to bandage up a bullet wound; her weapons may have been taken, but her other supplies had been left behind. _David, I swear...if I get out of this ruddy place alive, I'm never going to let you out of my sight. This particular profession has gotten much harder as of late._

With that in mind, she ran to the main hangar bay. There was something about that plane that asked for further investigation...

Mace came back to her office, arms laden with food. She saw David put the receiver of her phone back in its cradle. "Obscene phone call?" she asked.

"Depends on your definition. I just heard from Lara...she's gone to VENICE, of all places. She left a message with her butler and I just got the news." He shook his head. "First China, now Venice."

"Aw, buck up, little buckaroo. Maybe next year."

"I'd say 'bite me,' but you'd take me up on the offer. Let's get to work."

Later that evening, David put down the file. "I don't like this."

"What's to like?" Mace asked, finishing off the moo goo gai pan. David had eaten little, but Mace's high metabolism craved more sustenance. That, and she was getting the hang of the chopsticks. "You came all the way here from Jolly Old England to find out that you came here on a wild goosechase. I thought you got used to red herrings when you got into the business."

"Yeah, but..."

"But what?" Mace asked around a mouthful of noodles.

"...I dunno. Maybe nothing." David got up and walked around the office. "I can't believe you let your place get this bad."

"What are you talking about?" Mace looked around the clean office, the ordered desk, the neat inbox and outbox, the vacuumed floor and the empty wastebasket. "The office is clean."

"That's what I meant. Look at this. I bet there aren't any dustbunnies under the desk, either. It's a crying shame."

"I'm not that bad," Mace said, hoping he wouldn't look under her desk."Besides, what's wrong with a clean office? Clients come in, they see the place, they get a better impression."

"Mace, if you don't understand it, nobody'll ever be able to explain it to you." David shook his head, walking over to the sofa. "Man, I'm beat. This whole day just wore me out."

"Awww. Poor baby. Well, David, for once, I agree with you. It's time for bed." Mace got up and walked to the closet. She pushed the hangers all the way to the left and pulled down on the bar. David's eyes widened slightly as a Murphy bed came down and rested on the floor. "But I think this is much more comfortable than the sofa."

Just outside the office, a lone figure watched David and Mace through a fiber-optic camera planted in the room while they had been out following leads all day. As the figure saw the bed come down, she smiled. She withdrew a cellular phone from a pocket and dialed an international number.

A voice picked up the line after the first ring. "Yes?"

"Phase One complete. Now beginning Phase Two."

"Excellent. Call me after you are successful. I need not tell you how important this is."

"Don't worry...the imposter," she said that word with a hiss, "will suffer for what she did to me and you."

"Good. Proceed."

"Are you offering me the bed tonight, Mace?" David got up from the sofa.

"Hey, it's the least I could do for an old friend." Mace smiled. "And don't worry, I'll take the sofa. You look like you need the rest and I find the sofa much more comfortable."

David, reassured that Mace wasn't simply asking him into her bed, nodded."Thanks." He went to the bed and lay down, sighing audibly as he felt a mattress underneath him.

"You might as well take off your clothes, David."

David's head snapped up. "What?" he asked suspiciously.

"The landlord doesn't know I've been sleeping in my office. It'll help if I don't have the smell of sweaty male clothes all over my sheets."

Still watching Mace, David slid under the sheets and then undressed, tossing his clothes on one side of the bed. Mace grinned as she lay on the sofa, reaching up with a small remote.

"Good night, David."

"Good night, Mace."

Mace lay there until she heard the regular breaths of David snoring lightly. She waited another half-hour, then got up and undressed.

David was dreaming...a good dream, for once.

He was holding Lara in his arms, and she felt very warm in his hands. Her kisses moved over his cheeks and chest, and David was only too eager to respond. As his hands caressed her, holding her close, he imagined that he could hear her voice calling him...a gentle light framing her body...

Then the light became piercing and he squinted. "Wha..."

"DAVID!!!!"

David suddenly became aware that, one, that was indeed Lara's voice, two, the tone of the voice was a loud scream.

And three, it was coming from David's far left instead of just over his head.

David opened his eyes to see Mace Daniels, minus leathers, lying on top of him, a look of shock on her face and her face turned towards the door. He turned to see Lara Croft, standing at the door of the office wearing a blouse, black slacks and a black jacket, with an equally surprised look tinged with something he had hoped never to see when she was looking at him.

_HATRED._

David pushed Mace off of him as if she was a spitting cobra and turned to get out of bed when he realized that he wasn't wearing anything except his underwear. As Lara watched him with dawning disgust on her face, Mace said, "David, I thought you said she was going to Venice...!"

David thought he heard the lid on his coffin nail shut. "Lara, wait, hold on...!!"

"David CONNORS!" Lara said in the exact tone of voice David had prayed he'd never hear from her, "I can't believe this! The first time I go off to a lecture, you can't WAIT to run back to the States and take up with some...some...WHORE!"

"Watch it, lady..." Mace warned, then saw the large pistol in Lara's left hand.

"Lara, wait, I can explain...!"

"Do you take me for a fool, David??!" Lara asked incredulously. "Do you think I don't know what you two were doing in here? You tell me, David, what I should think when I see you, in bed, wearing nothing, with some overdeveloped, underdressed...WOMAN in bed with you??" Tears were coming down Lara's cheeks in rivers. "All this time, I saved myself for you, because I wanted to believe that you were special, that you were someone who loved me...when, all this time, you were just trying to get into my knickers and, when you couldn't wait, you ran off to some old lover just so you could..."

David had been shot, punched, kicked and knifed, even blown up, but Lara's words made him feel as if he was Pee-Wee Herman in a title bout versus Mike Tyson...on the fifth round. Her words cut him deeply, robbing him of any speech he could've mustered to defend himself. All he could do was sit there with his mouth open stupidly.

"David Connors..." Lara took a deep breath, then choked, "I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!!" With that, she turned and stomped out.

David found his voice again, grabbing his jeans and pulling them on, trying to run after her at the same time. "LARA, WAIT!" he yelled, stumbling to the door and looking down the hall. His run turned to a dead stop as he realized that Lara's gun was pointing at him.

Then she fired.

David dove back into the room as lead screamed through the air at him, shattering the hazed window in Mace's door and putting numerous holes in the wood around the doorway. When the gunfire stopped, David got up from the floor and ran to the doorway, looking back down the hall.

Lara was gone.

David stood there as Mace put a robe on, watching his back warily. She wasn't sure what David was going to do next. What had become an attempt to seduce him while his guard was down had turned into a typical New York domestic dispute...and Mace knew how unpredictable those could be. David turned around, his face unreadable, and walked slowly to where Mace was standing.

"David...?" Mace asked uncertainly. "Are you...?"

Then Mace saw her carpet. VERY closely. Then the pain in her jaw informed her exactly how she'd gotten there. When she looked up again, David was dressed, jamming his clothes into his nylon dufflebag. She got up quickly and opened her mouth to speak when David looked up at her. The expression on his face killed any chances of speech.

"Mace, don't you say a goddamn thing. Not a word, not a _syllable_. Maybe, someday, when you realize just how bad you screwed up, I MIGHT listen to what you have to say and what your reasons, however _stupid_ they were, for screwing up the most important thing in my whole life. But right now..." David took a deep, ragged breath, "RIGHT NOW, if you say a fucking thing, I'm going to kill you, Mace. Do you understand me? I'm going to reach down your throat, pull out your fucking heart, and you and I can watch it stop beating together. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? HAVE YOU GRASPED THE DEPTH OF WHAT THE HELL I'M SAYING????"

Mace didn't answer.For the first time in her life, David Connors didn't inspire lust, mirth or confidence in her. What Mace felt now was terror.

David grabbed his bag savagely and went to the door. He turned back once and Mace thought, for one fleeting second, that he was going to apologize or take back any of his words. "Good-bye, Mace Daniels. Have a nice fucking life."

The slamming door dislodged what few shards of glass were left in the door, leaving a faint tinkling noise that thundered in the monstrous silence David left behind. Mace walked to the door and stopped. She knelt at the floor, trying to pick up the pieces of the glass as if she could reassemble them and put the completed pane of glass back in its frame.

Mace was more shattered than the glass on the floor. She had known David ever since he was on the police force and she was still in high school.She'd had a crush on him ever since he came in one day to give a lecture about drug awareness to her sophomore class, and she'd never truly lost it, years later, after she'd graduated from high school and gotten her private investigator's license. She'd worked with David several times, but unlike so many other men, he'd never gotten more friendly with her than a handshake. He had been the only man that had ever said "no" to her and she held on to her desire for him ever since the day she first saw him.

When he'd come to her yesterday, Mace had thought that her lucky day had finally come. She refused to accept that David had been attracted to someone else and brought him in to her office, worked with him on the mystery surrounding Sung. It had felt like old times.

Finally, that night, she let herself be drawn to him and climbed into bed next to him, if only to feel his warmth...at least, that what she'd told herself it was for. Then she found her arms around him, felt his body responding, and thought that she'd finally found her chance. Mace lost herself in the feel of David...

...and then everything went wrong. Horribly, terribly wrong.

Sitting there on the floor, she went over her words, the ones that had damned David. She had only meant to show surprise at seeing Lara there, but her mishmash of feelings had let her become careless with her speech. Mace felt an incredible loss at what happened. She had felt loss before, lost some good friends to the hazards of the life she had chosen...but David was not dead, he was alive, and that made the loss all that greater.

Mace suddenly felt a jab of pain and looked down, realizing with a sense of distance that she had cut her finger on one of the panes of glass. That broke the spell over her and, with a cry of rage, she threw the shards out the broken window. She felt the tears coming, swore that she wouldn't let herself cry, that she had to become as hard as she could.

Mace Daniels still had a job to do.

The whole situation had screamed "setup" to her, and she wanted to tell David that. The situation with Sung, the whole mess had started with a red herring that linked Mace and David together. Even if David didn't want to find out why, Mace was determined to, if only to pay back the person responsible...in a BIG way.

Mace collected herself and got dressed. Sleep would have to wait.

Lara watched David leave, hailing the first cab that came along and getting in. She hit the re-dial button and her mistress answered. "Yes?"

"Phase Two complete. David Connors was found with Mace Daniels and I am positive that I convinced David that I was the Lara Croft he knew," said Lara Croft 1.1, "and he is now leaving the scene quickly. Should I follow him?"

"Yes. We need to make sure that he doesn't try to contact the impostor at your home again. If he finds out that the Lara he knew is still out chasing the Dagger of Xian, he will suspect. We can't have that. Follow him, keep tabs on him, BUT DO NOT MAKE CONTACT OR BE SEEN. Lara Croft may not survive the quest for the Dagger, but I know all too well how capable she is. She has a better than average chance, considering that she is an enhanced clone."

"Mistress..." Lara 1.1 said slowly, "...if she is the clone, why am I called 'Lara 1.1'? Am I not the original?"

"You are, but she has taken your life, assuming the role of the woman you once were. When she is gone, you will be Lara 1.0 again...I only use those terms to make sure that I do not confuse you with her. That's correct, isn't it, Lara?"

A vague sense of certainty filled her and Lara 1.1 said, "I suppose so."

"Good. Watch David closely until my agents come to relieve you. Begin Phase Three."

"Yes, Mistress." Lara 1.1 dialed the house, summoning up her emotion. When Mannfred answered, she said, "Mannfred, I want you to listen to me very carefully. David Connors has betrayed me, in the worst way. Never again do I want to hear his name spoken or the subject of him mentioned in any way, shape or form!" Lara 1.1 sobbed. "Never!!"

"Yes, Lady Croft...but he seemed so..."

"Mannfred, unless you wish to find yourself unemployed, do not finish that sentence!"

Mannfred's gulp was audible even over the international connection. "Yes, Lady Croft."

"I will be coming home soon...I have some business to attend to in Italy.When I return, I will need some time to recover from this...so please leave me to myself until I do. Thank you." Lara 1.1 hung up and smiled. _Now that clone will feel the loss I felt when she stole my life from me. Let her suffer, knowing that her lover and co-conspirator thinks she despises him._

With that in mind, Lara 1.1 continued to follow the cab to wherever it was taking David.

The real Lara Croft was at that point forty fathoms below the surface of the ocean, just off the coast of Italy. She had followed the path of a submarine down to the wreck of the Maria Doria, a ship that sunk off the coast while carrying a very important passenger, a relative of one of the Tibetan monks who had held onto an ornate golden Seraph to keep it safe.After checking out the areas of the ship with pockets of air, as well as other thugs sent down earlier by Bartolli, she knew that she was getting close to the Seraph that held the key to getting closer to the Dagger, and getting ahead of Bartolli. Lara may not have been an expert when it came to the Mafia, but she knew enough about Bartolli to dread the thought of letting the Dagger fall into HIS hands.

As an amusing twist of fate, Lara found herself enjoying herself despite the traps and pitfalls of the chase. She was glad to know that her time spent on the obstacle course was well spent, and a good thing, too.Compared to this, the Scions of Atlantis and the troubles she had finding them, not to mention defeating Natla and her thugs, was a late-afternoon walk in the fields compared to her present situation.

At least Natla had to hide behind a veneer of respectability. Bartolli seems completely unconcerned with hauling out the artillery. Lara smiled wickedly. _As Dave might put it, "Bring it on, Marco." I love a good donnybrook..._

With that thought to steel her, Lara went further into the depths of the sunken ship.

Mace had abandoned the idea of going to tell David her thoughts about what had happened. She knew David well enough to know that he was going get three things tonight; a place to stay, drunk, and into trouble. She sighed._Maybe a night in the drunk tank to dry out will help him get his head on straight. _Mace wasn't too worried about David...she was just concerned that David might attract the wrong kind of attention from some of the people HE used to worry.

Like the Mob.

I can't worry about that now. David's a big boy, he can look after himself.He's done pretty well so far. I'm just going to have to let him be...for now.

She stopped her bike and looked up at the neon sign over the nightclub. It read "CLEOPATRA'S," but the "C" had burned out and it was unlikely that it'd be fixed anytime soon, since it went out more than a year ago. The nightclub was little more than a strip club made over in an Egyptian motif, with a dance floor as a presumption of approaching legit business status.Nobody danced there except nude, nubile women made up to look like Egyptian princesses and queens...and badly done at that.

Mace relaxed. Here, she felt more comfortable.

As soon as she walked up to the door, the bouncer gave her a very SHORT once-over and stepped aside. The bouncer was large, beefy and had his nose broken twice, so he was the perfect type to ward off any troublemakers.Mace didn't even give him a look. After all, she was the one who'd broken his nose both times he tried to keep her out.

The smoke gave the place a hazy atmosphere that did nothing to highlight the decor. Once, the decor was considered intriguing and exciting, lending more of an exotic air to the place and enhancing the skills and beauty of the dancers. Not anymore, though. The establishment had not been refurbished since the day it opened, despite the money it took in over the first year. Mace wasn't surprised to hear that; she knew the owner, Kylie, and also knew that half the profits probably went right up Kylie's nostrils.

But for a half-brained crackhead, Kylie still knew how to use what few brain cells were still alive and managed to keep turning a profit and paying the girls reasonably well. It was that resourcefulness that Mace needed tonight.

She walked past the bar and went straight up to the stairs leading up to Kylie's office. Two men barred her way. The bartender, George, looked up just in time to see Mace confront the two men.

"Aw, NO, Mace! Kylie just hired 'em!"

"Shut up and mix your drinks, old man!" the guard on the left yelled. He turned to Mace. "Unless you're making an audition, girl, you'd better turn your tits the other way and follow them right outta here before somethin' BAD happens."

"George?" Mace called back sweetly. "Could you do me a favor? Call Kylie and tell her Mace will be right up...after she entertains these two." She smiled seductively. "Maybe I can audition for you two first?"

"Yeah..." the thug on the right grinned. "Do it nice, baby."

Mace smiled and slid her jacket off slowly, letting the leather caress her bare arms as she let it slip to the floor. She tilted her head back, letting her hands move up her sides and across her breasts to rest around her neck. She began to sway her hips sensuously, looking up at the hoods with half-lidded eyes. Both of the guards were drinking her in with their eyes, riveted to the sight of Mace making love to herself with her hands.

The two women performing on stage saw that some of their audience were starting to watch Mace instead of them and began to dance more provocatively, putting their fatigue aside in the face of losing some of their tips.

Mace let her hands move slowly down her front, closing her eyes and letting her mouth fall open slightly as her hands moved between her legs, lingering there to make sure she had the guards' full attention, then moved them down her inner thighs as she squatted and spread her legs wide open. Mace made a low moan in her throat as she rose, swaying from side to side like a snake slithering up into the air.

When she could see that the guards' blood had drained from their faces, she let her hands rise past her head into the air, smiling as she saw the thugs watch her hands, mesmerized completely by their own lusts, and that's when Mace let fly with a devastating kick into the crotch of the thug on the left with the toe of her boot. The thug's face went from semi-orgasmic to contorted in pain unlike any he'd ever dreamt possible. His buddy was so taken by the show, he never realized what happened to his friend until he joined him on the floor, for the exact same reason.

Mace shrugged off her seductive manner like she shrugged off the leather jacket she now retrieved, and George was shaking his head. "Dammit, Mace, this shit's getting old!"

Mace didn't answer, walking up the stairs as the eyes in the bar went right back to the women performing on stage, some of the men cringing.

Kylie was busy testing out her latest fix on her "personal assistant," a woman named Veronica who showed up and did Kylie's menial work just so that Kylie could give her a snort of cocaine every so often. Kylie had just gotten in a new shipment of a new designer drug named Black Lace and was checking out its effects when Mace kicked the door down, sending Veronica to the floor in a glazed stupor and Kylie running for the gun in her desk.Mace got to Kylie first, pulling the diminutive Chinese woman to her feet by her wrists. "Hiya, Kylie. Long time no see."

"Not long enough!" Kylie spat. "Get outta here! ARTHUR!! T-BONE!!"

"They're a little preoccupied at the moment. But enough about them." She threw Kylie into a seat on the sofa and walked up to her. "Let's talk about you and me." Mace looked down at the powder on the desk. "Black Lace? No end to your bad habits, Kylie...but, that's not why I'm here. Who fingered me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Kylie whined, but her thin, five-foot-two frame was no match for Mace's tall, toned body and Kylie knew it.

"Let me spell it out for you, Kylie. Someone who knew that I was a friend of David Connors set him and me up to take a fall. The question is, who told them about us and the Sung case? Not too many people knew about our involvement on that case...except for maybe you. So spill it, Kylie. Talk or I'll..."

"You'll what? Kick my ass? Well, you do that and I'll drop a dime on you with some cops I'd know. They'd LOVE to put you through a strip-search." Kylie grinned evilly.

"Kylie, you disappoint me. I'd never lay a finger on you." Mace dropped Kylie and went to her desk, reaching under the lip. Kylie's eyes widened as she saw her hidden safe open behind a picture of David Bowie on the wall.Before she could even get up, Mace had opened the safe and pulled out a stack of bills and a key. She discarded the bills and held up the key."Now, if the shipment of coke you left in that locker at Grand Central doesn't make it to the buyer, you won't need to worry about me messing up that innocent-looking face of yours. The Cubans...well, they're not as nice as I am. If you're lucky, they'll only peel you like an orange and leave you to die. They aren't the kind of people who'd accept a loss of a few million dollars with a shrug, are they?"

"YOU BITCH!!! GIMME BACK THAT KEY!" Kylie got up and tried to grab the key, but Mace held it out of reach.

"Tell me why you set me up, Kylie, and I'll give it back to you, and you can go kill off some more brain cells. Stall...and I can't make any guarantees for the poor little key's safety."

"Alright, alright!" Kylie yelled, defeated. Her hands dropped to the floor and she pushed against the floor to rise to her feet. "You're a real BITCH, you know that?"

"Yep...and don't you wish you were me? Now, let's hear it. ALL of it. And don't shit me, Kylie, or this key's going to go for a swim in the East River."

"Okay, okay, I give already...for starters, I didn't set you up."

"Bullshit, Kylie!"

"I swear, it wasn't me!!" Kylie's eyes widened as Mace went to the window."But I know who did!!!"

Mace stopped. "I'm listening, Kylie."

"I hear some stuff out on the street that some guys gave Mr. Sung a trip to China, the whole nine yards. Said it was for a good cause. Anyway, I heard they were talking about David Connors and some girl named Laura."

"Lara.Lara Croft."

"I didn't hear anything about Croft, but yeah, it could've been Lara.Anyway, they kept referring to someone named 'the Mistress,' and kept mentioning something about 'more than one,' but I don't know more than that."

"Did you hear the conversation?"

"No, but Louise did. She told me all about it...just before she got shot in a drive-by."

"When did that happen?"

"The same night, about a week ago."

"Did anything strike you as odd about the whole thing?"

"No....wait, there was something. One of them mentioned this new company called, 'The Atlantic Company.' Whatever that means."

"It's a start." Mace tossed the key to Kylie, who reached for it the way a drowning man reaches for a life preserver. "If I find that you've crossed me, Kylie, I promise to come back when you're not expecting me and tie you down while your employees have their way with you. You might enjoy that, actually..." Mace said in a droll tone as she went back down the stairs.

As she left, Mace realized that she was going to need a little help.

Unfortunately, she knew just who to call.

Mark Donovan.

Mace knew where to find Donovan.

The warehouse had been made up into a large studio/residence, with a generous amount of space between shooting area and living space. Mark lived in the warehouse; he owned it. He liked working at home, where "I can go to bed after a hard day at the office without risking my life on the roads."

When Mace knocked, the light that said DO NOT DISTURB-PHOTO SHOOT IN PROGRESS was on. Ignoring it, she kept knocking, her knocking becoming a loud, staccato pounding on the door, which did not stop until the door opened and Mark Donovan looked out at her with angry eyes.

Mark Donovan himself wasn't much to look at. His brown hair was not always combed, and it was not strange to see him working with 'morning hair' from time to time. His eyes were a strange color of brown, but not bright enough to attract attention most of the time. He looked young for a man his age, and his figure was good, but he was hardly Mr. Universe, and his personality leaned towards sarcastic.

It was when he was pleased or angry when he was a sight to behold.

His eyes would almost seem to glow gold, and he had an almost animalistic kind of movement when he walked. In these conditions, he was as handsome as a Greek god, and if he was angry, that handsome face usually promised divine vengeance.

He wasn't angry enough to be handsome beyond words, but he seemed to be working on it. "Well, well, well...I shoulda known by that heavy-handed knock that a Mace was banging on the door. Mind coming back when you can read signs?"

"I need to talk to you," Mace said quietly.

Mark rolled his eyes. "Look, Mace, I thought I told you..."

"My friend is in trouble."

Mark looked at her for a long time. Then he sighed. "Come on in."

Mace followed Mark to the studio, where two bikini-clad models draped over an oversized Sony PlayStation looked up in irritation. "Mr. Donovan, I thought no one was going to disturb us..."

"Well, this is an emergency. We're going to have to wrap up the shoot now.Sony'll have to be satisfied with what we've got. Hey, where's Crash?"

"Right here," said an actor in a large Crash Bandicoot costume, in the direction of the bathroom. He was just stepping out of the small bathroom area, getting his costume back on.

"We'll have to tank it for the day. Think you gave me your best in the last 10 rolls?" Mark asked.

"Course I did."

"Right. Anyway, pack it up and haul it out of here. Something's come up."

Mark waved the three towards the dressing room, and the brunette slipped a note into Mark's pocket as they walked towards the freight elevator to the basement. Mark waited until after the three were gone before pulling out the note.

Mace had an idea of what was on the note, but she asked anyway. "What did she write?"

"Quote. 'I can suck a golf ball through a straw and tie a cherry stem with my tongue. Call me.'" Mark groaned and tossed the note in a waste-basket near the camera tripod.

Mace looked down. There were quite a few notes. "Models?"

"All the time," Mark answered sourly.

"That wastebasket must be the luckiest receptacle in New York..."

Mark gave her a baleful look. "Is this some kind of coded message? Because to me, it sounds a lot like, 'Please throw me out of the highest window you can find, Mark...'"

"All right, all right. Jeez, if I'd known you were going to get ugly when Alix got killed..."

"Mace, if you value your sex life, you're going to start telling me what kind of help you need and STOP telling me about my former wife. Get me?"

Mace leaned up against the giant game console. "Peace, Mark, I was just concerned."

"The pitch, Mace. Step on it."

"Have you ever heard of a man named David Connors?"

"Yeah. Wasn't he the guy on the Midtown Slasher case? I remember that you and he paired up on that. Also responsible for the prosecution against Nick Maas, but the evidence disappeared. Heard he lost his wife and kid, quit the force, became a detective, had a practice around here until he met Lara Croft, the (ahem) archaeologist, left his practice behind to do God-knows-what in England after he and Lara supposedly fought some monsters in the Metropolitan Museum here in New York. That David Connors?"

"That's the one."

"Well, what about him?"

"Well, he just got into some trouble with Lara and she broke up with him.BIG time."

"Why?"Mace reddened slightly and Mark understood. "Christ Jesus, you DIDN'T! Let me guess, she caught you two in flagrante dilecto." Mace's silence was confirmation enough. "Mace, do us all a favor. Invest in a vibrator or something!"

"That's not all."

"There's MORE? Geez, how much damage could you do???"

"That's not it at all." Mace told Mark about the strange circumstances surrounding David's arrival and the apparent foul play concerning Sung. "On top of that, Lara Croft was supposed to be in China or something. She couldn't have known where I was."

"You're in the book, aren't you?"

"Yes, but David said he never told Lara about me and she couldn't have known that he had come to stay at my office while working on a few things."

"I can only GUESS what things."

"It wasn't like that, Mark. I just saw him sleeping, some old feelings came back and I couldn't help myself."

"Sounded like this whole mess began when you DID help yourself."

"Dammit, Mark!! What are you, my father?? Are you going to help me out or bitch me out?"

"Do I have time enough to do both?"

"NO!"

"Then I guess I'll help you."

The sudden capitulation caught Mace flat-footed, but she recovered after a few moments. "Uhm...all right, then. What do we do?"

Mark looked at her. "Do you have any idea where to go next?"

"If I DID, I wouldn't be HERE, would I?" Mace shot back.

"Point taken. Okay. Let's put the pieces together. Lara caught you here in New York."

"Mark, come ON..."

"Are you going to help put the pieces together? Come on, it's all in the details! You're asking me to put together a puzzle where all the pieces are square, the least you can do is help me make sure we have as many pieces as we can get." Mark sat down on a studio chair. "Lara caught you here in New York."

"Yes," Mace said tiredly.

"Could Lara have known he was here?"

"Never," Mace said with finality.

"Never? That's a big word....sure you can back it up?"

"Well...the only one who could have told Lara was her servants, I think, but if she's in China..."

"Okay. She could have found out, but the chances were low. How long was David here in New York?"

Mace thought hard. "Not more than 48 hours."

"Could Lara have made it from wherever she was in China to here in that time?"

"I...don't know," Mace said, sounding distracted.

"Suppose that the thing that walks like a duck and quacks like a duck is actually a duck. There is a very LOW chance Lara could have gotten here from China and found you within 48 hours. So...either Lara lied about going to China, or the woman that showed up wasn't Lara."

Mace frowned. "She _was_ Lara Croft."

"You sure? Did you get a good look at her? Twin 45s, impossibly tight butt, Dolly Parton's bust?"

"YES...well..." She thought for a moment. "I'm 99.9 percent sure."

Mark nodded. "Okay...is there ANYTHING else you can remember?"

Mace thought for a moment. "The Atlantic Company. I have it on good authority that whoever was involved was connected to that company."

Mark looked thoughtful. "I know a hacker friend who can get some good info on certain corporations." He picked up the phone and dialed.

Bob "Heloquin" Cagle was currently skimming through Microsoft's microsofts when Donovan called.

"Hey, there, what's up?"

"I want everything you can get, by hook or crook, on the Atlantic Company.One known outlet in New York, New York. Any underworld connections."

Bob nodded. "Want that today or tomorrow?"

"Yesterday."

Bob groaned. "You ask a lot, you know..." and hung up. He pushed his wheelchair towards another console and called up a couple of files.

"Now what?" Mace asked as Mark set down the receiver.

"The phone book. We're going to pay a call on the Atlantic Company. Or rather...I am. They may have already scoped your face out, so you'll be undercover of the night, as the old song goes." Mark grinned. "We have quite some time before nightfall and before we get the skinny on Atlantic, so get some sleep."

Lara 1.1 was doing some work on her own, but it wasn't the kind of work that her employer/creator would've approved.

She sat in the car across the street from a somewhat grungy bar populated by some bikers, a few regulars and one David Connors, currently drinking himself into a stupor. As she watched, Lara 1.1 started to partake of an activity her employer DEFINITELY wouldn't have approved; namely, she began to wonder.

She'd only been alive for little under a year, and through it all, she was taught to believe that this man had aided Lara in destroying the original Lara Croft and assisting her clone in assuming the original's place. But something kept nagging at her, parts that didn't fit. David wasn't acting much like the heartless conspirator that Lara 1.1 was told about, and the more she thought about this, the more other factors began to crop up. It was easier now, away from the woman that had caused her re-birth, to think about why her name was so strangely out of place, as if SHE was the clone and the woman they were trying to ruin was the original. _But if that's the case,_ Lara 1.1 thought, _how come I have so many memories? A clone wouldn't have memories of anything past the day she was decanted. And for that matter, if Lara 1.0 IS the clone, where did she get the desire to take my place? How long ago was she made and how was she able to fool my family for so long?_

The thoughts were disturbing, threatening to shake the foundations of everything she knew to be real, yet she pursued them at a zealous pace. She had to know.

A buzz at her side alerted her to the phone in the car and she picked it up. "Yes?"

"This is Agent Four. We are homing in on your signal. Do you have the target in sight?"

Lara nodded. "Yes. He's in the McLaren Bar at Forty-second and Maurice.He's been drinking for some time...I estimate his blood-alcohol level to be far beyond legal limits for operating a motorized vehicle," she added.

"Noted. Will take caution."

The bartender, a matronly woman with a well-toned body covered by a T-shirt and knee-length skirt, said, "Mister, are you trying to kill yourself?"

"Shhure...wanna join me?" David said, alcohol roaring through his brain.

"No thanks. You're gonna need your stomach re-lined after drinking all that. Never seen you in here before."

David pushed the shot glass forward. "Again."

"Not a chance. You've had too much already. You keep this up and I'll need to completely re-stock by last call." She shook her head. "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"Cause no one elshe will let me do it to themmm..." David smiled through the fog of inebriation at his little joke.

"Come on...the last time I saw someone drink like that, it was over a woman. You got woman problems, mister?"

"Like you wouldn't believe..." He looked at the shot glass. It was empty again. "I had a girl...a real lady..."

The bartender reached forward and caught his head before it could make a dent in the bartop. "Mister...ah, hell." She looked up as the doors opened and four men entered, all wearing black suits.

"Excuse me, Madame, but is that man David Connors?"

"Who's asking, the Men In Black?" she countered.

"We're with the FBI and we need to take this man in. He's wanted on several crimes."

"Crimes of the heart, maybe. Let's see some ID," she said.

The speaker nodded, reaching into his coat and pulling out a strange-looking pistol, looking for all the world like some body parts thrown together to look like a gun. She dove for the floor as the man fired, sending a thin stream of fluid into the bottles behind the bar.Where the fluid hit, the glass cracked and melted.

The rest of the patrons dove for the floor and watched in fear as the other three men went over and dragged David from his chair to the Cadillac waiting outside. The leader looked around, looking for the bartender, but she was nowhere to be found. He turned and walked out to the car, getting in the driver's side door, while the patrons looked wildly out through the barred window.

The bartender slid out from under the lower lip of the bar, wiping some of the sticky liquids from her hands. Her clothes were ruined, but she didn't care. _I swear, I gotta get a shotgun for this place!_ she thought.

Lara 1.1 watched the men leave and dialed their car quickly. The leader picked up the line. "Yes?"

"I just got a call from the Mistress. She wants David Connors delivered alive to her Caribbean office in Trinidad."

"We have orders to kill David Connors," the leader replied mechanically.

"She has decided that he is of better use alive, where she can use more of his DNA samples for her purposes. She has not been able to isolate the x-factor yet. Deliver him sedated and chained to the labs in Trinidad; I will instruct you further." Lara 1.1 hung up and breathed a sigh of relief, thanking her Mistress for making the servants subservient to her in the field. She drove away, heading for the airport. Lara 1.1 had some calls to make and the last thing she needed was to be seen anywhere except the airport. _Now...maybe I'll get some answers, she thought as she drove, and then maybe I'll bloody well understand what's going on._

David awoke strapped to a table and having the mother of all hangovers.

He found that even motions as insignificant as turning his head brought on excruciating pain and he simply lay there, enduring the discomfort. As time passed, the pain ebbed away and he turned his head to look at his surroundings.

Everything was white, that he noticed right away. Even when his vision was hazy, he saw how stark and colorless his world was. As his eyes cleared, he began to pick out strange shapes, smooth objects very close to him. When his eyes cleared completely, he saw that he was in something very much like an operating room...on steroids.

Tubes ten feet high and three feet across took up all wall space save that what was needed for the door. Inside each of the thirty tubes was a figure, humanoid in nature but underdeveloped in some ways and overdeveloped in others. David felt his stomach turn over as he saw that many looked quite human, but had serious defects and deformities. But what bothered him most of all was that they were all male...and that some of them bore a disturbing resemblance to himself!

"What the hell..." David squeezed his eyes shut as his headache intensified. His mouth felt as if it was left out to fry in the Gobi Desert. He looked down to find himself securely strapped onto the table with thick leather restraints, the kind he recognized as those used for restraining prisoners or inmates at an asylum.

He heard a loud hissing noise and turned to see someone walk in, wearing hospital whites. David's eyes widened as he saw who it was. "Lara? LARA??"

The woman who walked in smiled and stepped to one side as someone else came in, a blonde woman in a wheelchair wearing a tailored dress-suit. David looked carefully at her, finding her face familiar. "Hey. Hey, you! Who are you and what am I doing here?"

Ignoring him, the blonde looked to Lara. "Why did you bring him here?"

"I knew that you were having trouble replicating the genes from the samples of David Connors, so I brought him in so you could get a fresher sample. I thought..."

The blonde wheeled herself forward to David's side. He stared hard at the face of the attractive woman next to him. "You look real familiar to me."

"I should. You helped Lara kill me once."

David's eyes widened. "No...no, it CAN'T be..."

"Oh, but it COULD...it could and it IS."

"I saw you incinerated. You couldn't possibly have survived!"

"Reports of my death, as Samuel Clemens once said, have been greatly exaggerated.Just as I planned." Jacqueline Natla smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you at last, David Connors...you have no idea how much of a pleasure it is. Lara?"

"Yes, Mistress?" said Lara 1.1 as she ran to her side.

"'Mistress'?? What the hell is going on, Lara?"

"Tut, tut, Mr. Connors. I'm afraid that things are not what they seem to be. Lara, leave us. As it turns out, you were right...a fresher sample did produce better results. But I have some things to discuss with Mr. Connors."

Lara 1.1 nodded and left. When the door was closed, Jacqueline Natla turned back to David. "She really is quite perfect, isn't she? Right down to the fingerprints. Not bad, if I do say so myself."

"Who...or what is she?"

"A clone. A very special clone of Lara Croft. I call her Lara 1.1, for obvious reasons. I hate getting my slaves and my enemies confused."

"Now I remember...Lara told me about you once. She said that someone should've drowned you at birth."

"How kind of her to remember me after my 'death.'" Natla wheeled herself backwards a few paces. "I'll have to thank her...just before I dispose of her. Oh, I know what you're thinking, Mr. Connors. 'How?' That covers a great deal, and since you're not going to be leaving us anytime soon, I suppose it would be a shame to keep such a glorious plan secret."

"Lara was right."

"About what?"

"You ARE a smug, self-absorbed, delusional little bitch."

Natla's face hardened. "It would not be wise for you to act so impolitely to your host, David."

"My jailer. Let's abandon the false niceties, alright? Don't insult my intelligence."

"Very well. You're blunt, to be sure. As you guessed, I survived the fall of Atlantis, but there was grievous nerve damage to my spine, leaving me paralyzed from the waist down. I crawled out from under the rubble and summoned what minions I yet commanded to take me back to the nearest base where I could heal. As I lay there in the nutrient bath that healed my wounds, all I could think about was my new goal in life. At first, I had believed it to be nothing less than the stimulation of humankind, bringing them closer to their real potential, becoming their recreator and goddess."

"Gee, I guess Lara left out, 'humble'."

"Shut up, Mr. Connors. After what had happened, I realized that I had a different destiny, a different reason for being born and existing on this world." Natla turned to David and he saw an insatiable, crazy hatred burning in her eyes. "I had to destroy Lara Croft. Not just kill her, although that would've been satisfying enough. No, I had to RUIN her utterly. That was my goal, the reason why I did not die in Atlantis. So, I made my plans and came up with an idea. A glorious idea. I would take everything that Lara Croft held dear away from her until she was broken, decrepit and alone. Then, at the height of her despair, I would torture her to death." Natla sighed wistfully. "With that in mind, I went to work, dissolving Natla Technologies and taking over a sister company, renaming it the Atlantic Company, in honor of the place where Lara tried to kill me the first time. Then I started work on Lara 1.1 and..."

"Hold it. Just a second. How could you create a clone with the memories of Lara Croft? I find it a little hard to believe that she thinks she's the real Lara when she's only been around, what, a year? Less?"

"Of course you find it hard to believe. You have no access to the knowledge of Atlantis. After Lara escaped me just before heading to Atlantis a year ago, I took some blood samples from what dripped from Lara wounds and stored them for later use; someone so well endowed physically and mentally would've been useful. And they did...I reinforced the racial memory strains in her DNA and altered her memories through her DNA and conditioning to make her believe that she was the original Lara Croft and that someone had cloned her and instructed her to take her place. Then I created a clone of myself, as well as some of the more popular media personalities in New York, manipulating them as well. Then, since they were ultimately expendable, I speed-grew them all, giving my own clone the idea that it was the real Natla and an unabiding, irrational hatred of Lara Croft. Then I aimed them at her and, ultimately, you."

"The museum...it was all a fake designed to make Lara think that she'd killed you."

"Not really. It was a win-win situation. If the clone of Natla succeeded in killing Lara, she would've been out of my hair. The speed-grown clones would then deteriorate and die, leaving me to carry on. If the Natla-clone didn't succeed, which it didn't..."

"...Lara would think you were dead and put you into the past."

"You're not as dumb as I thought you were, David. Interesting. Well, with me 'dead,' I began to pursue how to get rid of her. Since you elected to stay with her a while, I had to get rid of you, too, although your death wasn't mandatory, since you really didn't try to kill me the first time."

"Gee, thanks," David said sarcastically.

Natla went on as if David hadn't said anything. "I used my new identity to help facilitate the recovery of the Scion, but before I could, it had been recovered by Nicholas Maas by one of his art smuggler friends. By the time Lara 1.1 got there, you and Lara had already visited the place, but left the Scion behind. Lara 1.1 recovered it and brought it back to me."

"What did you need them for?"

"The Scions are not mere baubles, David...when assembled, they are a supercomputer, a memory storage device, a sub-atomic catalyst and a power source of incredible power, all at the same time. One who knows how to operate and use the Scions can draw upon the power of a god, but those weak-willed wimps at Atlantis just wanted to use them for protecting other wimps and feeble-minded humans not worthy to lick our shoes. I had bigger plans for them. Unfortunately, Lara damaged the Scion beyond repair when she shot it, and the destruction of Atlantis certainly didn't help. But damaged as it was, it held just enough knowledge and power to create this.I hope you appreciate the kind of power that represents."

"Yeah...it takes a lot of effort and time to create those mistakes around this room."

Natla looked around disapprovingly. "You know what they are, don't you?"

"Yeah, I think I know. Clones of me...although they don't look much like me, do they?"

"Yes, and it's your fault."

"Glad I could help. What did I do to make things tougher, might I ask?"

"You were born from inferior stock. The DNA strands of Lara Croft were of high quality, pure bloodlines and healthy living made that certain. But YOU...if you were a canine, you'd be a mutt."

"Bow. Wow," David said snidely.

"Your DNA was flawed in many areas, and I was unable to determine your origins. Attempts to clone you resulted in these...errors. They were all interesting men, too."

"What?? I thought you cloned from scratch. What did you need other men for?"

"Well, David, Lara 1.1 wasn't created 'from scratch,' as you call it. She is the result of a brand-new creation I call a 'genovirus.' It takes an existing bioform and rewrites the DNA of the host to conform to the DNA code programmed into it. That's how I created Lara 1.1...I found a woman who fit the general body mass and DNA compatibility, took her to the lab and injected her with the genovirus. Within days, she was re-made and reprogrammed into Lara's exact duplicate."

"Not exact," David said firmly.

Natla stopped, then looked at David. "Really? So tell me, Mr. Connors...what was the mistake?"

"When your Lara shot at me back at Mace Daniel's apartment, she was holding her gun in her LEFT hand. Lara's RIGHT-handed. She only uses her left hand when she's using both hands to shoot at someone."

Natla frowned. "Hmmmm...an insignificant detail. Not all are as perceptive as you are, David."

_You keep thinking that,_ David thought. _Mace Daniels may be a rookie, but she's not stupid. She saw...and once she puts two and two together..._

"In any case, I tried to do the same thing with you. However, there is some x-factor in your DNA that I cannot identify, something that mutates the genovirus into creating faulty clones. I could've isolated that particular gene, but not without the Scion's full memory...and that part was lost when Lara shot the Scion."

"Gee, that's a shame."

"However..." Natla smiled. "After so many tries and errors, I believe that I have come out with a suitable clone." She touched a button on her wheelchair and a door opened on the other side of the room, one of the tubes sliding upwards to allow entry. David's eyes went wide as he saw himself, dressed in a bodysuit, walk in the door. "What do you think, David? What is your opinion of David 1.1?"

David looked at the clone. David 1.1 looked at David, walking over and touching his forehead, then his lips, then his chest. David 1.1 looked up at Natla, who was smiling proudly.

"Him funny looking. Make faces. Have cookie now?" David 1.1 said.

Natla's smile disappeared, reappearing on David's face. "Congratulations, Natla. You did pretty good. So, what are you and Rain Man going to do next?Parlor tricks?"

Natla looked at David 1.1 with distaste. "Damn.Imperfect."

"No fooling. He won't fool Lara Croft in the least."

"Oh yes he will," said Natla with a renewed gleam in her eye. "He'll just have to speak to Lara by phone. Say what I taught you, David 1.1."

The clone nodded, saying in a bolder voice, "Lara, this isn't working out at all. I can't see you anymore. You see...there's someone else, someone I really love. I thought I loved you, but now...it was just an unwillingness to be alone. I'm sorry, Lara, but I have to say goodbye. It wasn't working out and we both know it. I hope you'll find someone else." He looked at David, whose smile had now vanished. "Pretty good, Mistress? Davey have cookie now?"

"Yes. dear boy, I believe you've earned it. Go get a cookie from Maude."

"Yay!!" said David 1.1, jumping up and down and clapping his hands. He waved to her, then turned away and went back through the door he'd come through.

Natla looked at David. "Still think Lara will see through it?"

"I thought it took days for the genovirus to work!"

"You've BEEN here for days. Five of them, actually. Plenty of time to create David 1.1 and teach him what needed to be said. Or actually, what will be said."

David looked at Jacqueline Natla in utter horror.

Lara dropped the phone. Her mind had gone completely numb from shock. She had come home in triumph after rescuing the Dagger of Xian, ready to tell David that she'd been thinking about them both, and that maybe she was ready for a deeper commitment. Now, sitting there on her bed, crying as if she would never stop, her entire soul felt crushed, beaten.

_What happened....? What did I do to drive him away? What went so wrong???_ She couldn't believe David's words, but they came through very clear...all TOO clear. She wanted to die, wish she had died, anything to stop the pain in her broken heart.

Then she heard the alarms go off and realized that someone had invaded the house.

Her shame and grief turned to rage, rage at the world for allowing this to happen to her. As she ran for the cabinet where she kept her guns, heedless of the fact that she was wearing only her nightclothes, she thought angrily, _Whoever those bastards are...THEY PICKED THE WRONG NIGHT TO BREAK INTO MY HOME!!!_

She grabbed her shotgun and loaded it, hearing footsteps coming closer...

FIVE DAYS EARLIER

Mace's dreams were bad.

She kept seeing Lara in her mind's eye, raising hand to point at her accusingly, then the hand would become a Colt .45 and opening fire. The bullets seemed to perforate an opaque barrier between Lara and Mace, then the hard thuds of bullet impact would drown out everything and she would wake up, moaning softly.

The third time she woke up, it was 8 p.m. and she felt no need to return to the nightmare. She looked around and saw Mark Donovan looking into the screen of his computer, frowning in its reflection. She got up, walking quietly over to Mark. When she got within 50 feet of him, he said without turning around, "Hello, Mace."

Mace slumped. "Damn...how do you do that?"

"I'd tell you, but you'd never believe me," Mark said simply.

"What are you looking at?" she asked, finding a chair near the table and pulling it over to the desk.

"Some stuff Heloquin sent me on the Atlantic Company," Mark replied.

"Anything useful?" Mace asked, trying to read the small print.

"Well, let me give you a rundown. Atlantic didn't exist two years ago, first of all."

Mace's left eyebrow rose. "What, it's a new company?"

"Yes...and no. Atlantic seems to be a legitimate bioengineering firm, run by 9 major stockholders. Deal mostly in pollution control, creating hardier strains of wheat and rice, clean-air, clean-world stuff. Good rep, their stock is bearish in the Exchange...all the earmarks of a successful company."

Mace picked up on Mark's tone. "You said, 'seems to be.'"

Mark nodded. "Heloquin did a little digging, got deeper into the company.He was able to get a list of the stockholders, run them through a few databases, and came up with something."

"Criminal records?" Mace asked hopefully.

"Not really. Their social security numbers are all consecutive."

"Numbers don't mean anything, Mark..."

"RANDOM numbers, yes. These aren't random." Mark tapped the screen. "The only way they could be this way is if these people didn't exist, or if they simply are posing as legit owners. For all we know, someone owns it all."

"But who?"

"I've been checking that, too. Helo's been very thorough here. He tracked down all the resources this company purchased when it started, and through exhaustive work, he's identified a large percentage of it came from just one company. Natla Technologies."

Mace asked curiously. "How much of a percentage?"

"Ninety-four percent." Mark smiled. "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."

"So Atlantic is actually Natla?"

"Seems funny, doesn't it? Especially when Natla is an anagram of Atlan."

Mace's frown deepened. "She died, didn't she?"

"The Natla woman? Yes, she did, but...somehow, I don't know." Mark tapped the photo of Natla, which was not onscreen. "She's the link, alive or dead."

Mace shook her head. "This is getting deep."

"So we go deep. I'm going to find out a little bit more about the Atlantic Company tonight."

"How?"

"I'm going to break in. Tonight."

Mace STARED at him. "You're insane."

"Like a fox. How are you with computers?"

"I do all right."

"Good. I'm going to bring in one of Heloquin's Little Wonders. We are going to get some info, as much as we can, from Atlantic's Manhattan complex. You are going to be stationed in the getaway vehicle, which is going to have a download point installed. The Little Wonder is a portable satellite modem, and anything I can raise on the computers in the complex will be downloaded to Heloquin's workstation and he will earmark anything that looks important enough to follow up on. In the meantime, I'll be going through the complex, picking up what I can."

Mace kept staring at him. She finally managed, "I thought you had retired from this line of work."

"I'm semi-retired." Mark picked up a small box. "Get dressed. We are taking the 'Vette."

Ten minutes later, Mace said, "When you said you had a 'Vette, I thought you meant a CORvette, not a CHEvette."

"Hey, it's a dependable car," Mark said defensively as they drove through the streets of Manhattan. "Heloquin marked down a spot on the map, a good place for parking. Where is it?"

"North side. Under a treeline." Mace tested the headset Mark had given her with a tap on the throat microphone, then said, "Do you enjoy this kind of thing?"

Mark smiled at her. "Like playing an exhibition game for me."

Mace found herself drawing away from him, and not really knowing why.

They did not speak again until they arrived at the point behind the fence.

Mark shut off the engine, then said, "If you see any green lights on the box in the rear seat, that means it's downloading. If you see red lights, it means I'm not."

"And what happens if the lights are dark?"

Mark smiled. "That means I'm dead, and you had best hightail it out of here. Any other questions?"

Mace snorted, "Yeah. What in the world screwed you up like this?"

"Langley."

And then he was off, heading for the fence.

Mace shivered and pulled her jacket tighter around herself.

Mark knew the fence was electrified. He could hear the humming of the wires.

But that was easy to circumvent.

He took a running leap, his hands and feet digging into the fence.Electricity usually traveled through the shortest path it could. Since Mark was not touching the ground, the electricity found Mark's body too long a path to travel, staying in the wires. Thick rubber gloves and rubberized shoes helped, as well.

Five minutes later, Mark jumped off the fence and landed quietly on the ground, making for a small copse of trees halfway between the complex and the fence.

He was halfway between the trees and the building when he heard it, a fast sound of quick claws on pavement, little pants of effort, and then a large German Shepherd rounded the corner and came straight at him.

Ten years ago, he had been with a group of other trainees at a 'confidence course' in Langley Virginia, in a place some called The Pickle Factory. The lieutenant in charge of the lesson was detailing possible threats around military compounds Mark or his classmates might be expected to penetrate.The guard dog was high up on the threat level because they did not have the distractions humans had. Sex, money, power, compassion, doubt, none of that would ever induce a guard dog to slow its attack once it got started. It would spring at you, knocking you down with it on top of you, tearing at your arm, your throat, or your face. And when it was done with you, it would call for attention, as loud as it could.

But...there was a catch.

One it jumped for you, it has about as much braking power as a big rig on a mountain slope doing 70 mph. In short, NONE.

Mark waited until the dog was in the air before he acted. He grabbed both forelegs, pivoted, then swung the dog in an arc around him, throwing the animal at the trees, the animal turning and writhing in midair. All movement ceased when the dog's back struck one thick trunk, the body wrapping around it like a length of chain...except that lengths of chain don't snap on impact. The dog dropped to the ground, dead of a broken back.

Mark was moving again. With a vicious thing like that on the grounds, it wasn't likely people were going to be too careful or watchful.

Mark made his way inside through a secured door after dodging the camera just inside. From there, he moved slowly through the outer hall, trying to find a passageway deeper into the complex. What he was looking for would be in the belly of the beast.

When he found a quiet office, he tested the commlink. "Mace?"

"Still here," said a tinny voice from the hearing-aid receiver.

"How's it looking out there?"

"Nothing changed. Still quiet as death out here."

"You're fun on a black op," Mark said quietly.

"I get it from you." Click.

Mark smiled, then spotted a hermetically-sealed door and examined the keypad. Above the pad was a blinking red light.

Mark figured it was a proximity-pass system, linked to credit-card-sized wafers that held data involving what areas the holder was and was not allowed to enter. The problem was circumventing it.

He opened the Little Wonder and typed out on the small keypad, HELL.

The tiny LCD monitor flared to life, the words, "HELL HERE" on the screen.

PROX PASS, he typed.

The screen blinked, then said, "LET ME SCAN."

Mark held the small screen up to the keypad on the wall. The light began to flash faster, then flashed green. A quiet 'CHUNK' came from the door, and Mark pushed it open. THANKS, he typed.

"ANYTIME."

Mark almost died when he entered the corridor.

He stepped inside, turned around to look down the corridor, and came face to face with a 3-foot-tall velociraptor. It examined him closely, then apparently thought he was good to eat and sprang at him. Mark was almost caught lethally flat-footed; if he had not come to his senses in time and activate the spring-loaded dagger under his left arm, the tiny 'raptor would have torn out his throat. He drove the dagger through the reptile's eye, through the bone behind the eye, and deep into the thing's brain. It gave a sudden shudder and fell limp.

Mark pushed the thing off of him and looked down the corridor. Empty, so far...but now he had to come to grips with the fact that whatever they were doing in Atlantic, tough wheat was a misleading glimpse of what the company bio-engineered.

"Welcome to Jurassic Fragging Park, Mark Donovan. Count yourself lucky to be alive," he whispered, and ducked into the nearest door down the corridor.

He caught the guard off-guard, knocking him down with a powerful punch into the man's solar plexus and wrapping his face, hands, and legs with duct tape. After stuffing the guard under the desk, he took a quick inventory of the guard station. He was pleased to find a Scorpion MP5 submachine gun with laser scope and a cylindrical silencer/flash suppressor, a weapon good to supplement his own sidearm, a powerful .50-Magnum Desert Eagle with a heavy silencer of Company design.

As he was checking out the documentation for the guard, a booklet caught his eye. He opened it and read the title.

"Bioform Identification And Handling..." he read, eyes wide. If he hadn't seen the creature on page 11 nearly rip out his throat, he would have thought it a work of fiction. Things that looked like jungle cats without fur or skin, bipedal monsters with taloned paws for hands, small bats with teeth that dripped poison...it was a horrorshow of genetic mastery, an Animal Kingdom designed by Josef Mengele.

He went out the door and down the hall, armed for bear...or the nearest genetic equivalent.

Mace straightened when the box near her flashed a message.

SILENT ALARM ENGAGED-COMPLEX ONLY. NO POLICE SUMMONED.

She looked at the building beyond the gate._No police? If they knew Mark was in there, did they think what they had was enough to stop him?_

"Mark? Are you there?" she whispered.

"Yes. I'm inside one of the labs," came a tinny squawk from the earpiece.

"The alarms have gone off. No police have been called," she said in a low voice.

"I figured. I don't think they went to show the police any of what's in here."

"What...what's in there?" she asked, curious in spite of herself.

"Before I tell you, I have to ask...do you want to get a good night's sleep before the year 2000?"

She winced. "Yes," she managed.

"Then don't ask."

She swallowed, then heard what sounded like a staccato coughing.

"What was that?"

"I had to shoot something...and if you ask, all I can say is that it has 9 limbs..."

Mace quickly cut the connection.

Mark stepped over the monster, pushing his way into one of the labs. He found a computer console and a technician in front of it. The tech looked up at him, then said, "Please don't shoot me."

Mark looked past the tech's face to the computer. On the screen, it showed a window which said:

DO YOU WANT TO CONFIRM LANWIDE FORMAT?

(Y/N)

The tech's hand was moving towards the Y key.

Mark shot him where he sat, the finger reflexively stabbing a key...but the U key, not the Y key. Mark pushed the body out of the way, hit the N key, then connected the Little Wonder to the parallel port in the back of the computer. Then he opened the Little Wonder and typed HELL.

"HELL HERE."

Mark typed DLOAD, then READY?

"HIT ME," said the screen.

Mark pushed a button and the screen blanked, showing a progress bar.

"DLOAD = 00:10:00" flashed, then the counter started counting down.

"Mace? Started download. All other computers locked out, I think," Mark whispered.

"No guards visible," came the reply.

"That's because they know the trouble's inside. Give me 20 minutes."

"Do you need help?" Mace asked, concerned.

"I'm beyond help, but thanks for asking."

Mace snarled, "You're a bastard, do you know that?"

A pause, then the reply came back, "Yes, I know it well. Gotta cut the connection, no sense having them trace these little chats. See you out-side." Click.

Mace leaned back, then started the car, on impulse.

She was taking no chances.

The download still had five minutes to go when the first wave came in. They apparently had sent the monsters in first, by the sound of it. Mark pulled back the bolt of the Scorpion, tried to gauge the position, and then the door blew in, the reptilian monstrosities coming at him in a haphazard wave. He fired quickly, restricting the fire to short bursts in-stead of a line of suppressive fire, picking his targets. Most fell quickly, but three still got within ten feet of him.

Those three found the crude Bouncing Betty Mark had fashioned out of laboratory materials. Mark ducked before the explosion could cut him amid-ships, hiding behind a table. When he got up, every creature in the room was either dead or too involved in dying to think about him. He looked to the computer, then slid two more of the innocent-looking bowls out into the hallway, waiting patiently behind the table. He checked his ammo, then the computer.

One explosion made the room shudder, then two. Mark smiled. _That should take care of..._

The thing with nine limbs lumbered into the room, looking wounded and seriously hacked off at Mark for wounding him.

Inactivity would have killed him, so he lunged over the table, aiming the large handgun at the behemoth and squeezing the trigger twice, shooting the thing's eyes out of its head. The third shot made the back of the thing's head swell like a mushroom, then sag like a deflated balloon.

Mark stopped over it, breathing deeply, then heard a loud BING!, like a microwave oven finishing up. He turned, went to the Little Wonder, then read it quietly.

"DLOAD COMPLETE."

Mark disconnected the little box, stuffed it in his jacket pocket, then checked the hallway. It was messy beyond words, but no one was around. He checked his weapons one last time, then threw a small black square down the hall and ducked back into the room.

The resulting flash brought screams of dismay, so Mark turned out to be correct about the possibility of an ambush. He took a chance and bolted down the hall towards the squad positioned there, rushing past them and straight for the inner door back to the general-population area.

Mace tested the gas pedal, then the brake pedal. Both still worked for the 15th time.

She was wondering about trying to call Mark again when the front door exploded off of its hinges. "Damn," she muttered, putting the car into neutral and her foot on the gas pedal.

Mark ran out the front door, firing the Scorpion in a wide arc. He dropped the gun as he jumped for the fence, throwing his coat over the razor wire at the top and rolling over the coat, yanking it down as he landed on the grass at the opposite side. He ran to the car, jumping inside, and said in a pleasant voice, "Waiting for anyone else, hon?"

She got the message, slipping the car into gear and gunning the engine. The Chevette pulled out in a spray of gravel, heading onto the main road and away from the Atlantic Company.

One guard reached for the hotline phone in the guard station. His boss was not going to like...

He stopped, gazing at a package on the counter. It was a large wrapped package, with a disc on the front of it. The writing on the front of the box said TEN POUNDS OF BOOM!!!

He yelled, "BOOOOMMMB!" and bolted from the office.

Mark kept looking back, frowning.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Mace asked, not taking her eyes from the road.

"I'm waiting for something."

"What are you..."

Then an awful white light filled the rearview mirror. Mace saw it and braced herself, knowing what would happen next.

The car shook with the loud, resonant bbbbRRRRROOOOMMMMMMMM! as the complex exploded, killing anyone still inside and anyone in the general area. The flames could be seen from five blocks away.

Mark sat down, looking satisfied.

"Mind if I ask why you did that?" Mace asked him.

"No."

Mace waited, then growled, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"

"Because they were making enough genetic boogeymen to terrify every child in the United States...call it trash-burning." Mark held up the small box."I just hope Heloquin can tag what we need."

Mace was silent all the way back to Mark's warehouse.

The servant thought Natla took the news rather well. Besides, she could afford to replace the phone she embedded in the wall (she had superior upper-body strength, even in her condition) and the one she had talked to would still survive the experience. Otherwise...

Three guards dead, 12 researchers dead, and scores of genetic constructs in various states of gestation and development. The good news (such as it was) was that they were present for such a short time. _They could not remove very much information in such time..._

But even that was puzzling.

Natla looked to her assistant and said in a low voice, "I do not believe in coincidence. What is the report on the one named Mace?"

The stiff woman checked a printout. "Two men are tailing her. They say she went to some photographer's place in Manhattan. They lost them in a traffic jam 20 minutes before the complex attack, and they returned roughly...two hours after it happened."

Natla looked up. "A photographer?"

"Yes. Apparently they had some kind of stormy affair after his wife died."

She frowned. "I want a dossier on this photographer."

The assistant pulled out the dossier she had on the table next to her. "I took the liberty, mistress."

Natla smiled, pleased that her servants were reasonably intelligent."You've now justified your obscene paycheck." She opened the file, reading through it carefully. When she looked up, she was frowning. "What is this Department of Defense seal on his military records?"

"Our resident hackers in New York are working on it," the assistant said quickly. "They still haven't found anything on his wife, Alixandra, either.It is as if she appeared out of nowhere."

"Department of Defense..." she muttered, then examined the file closely.

"Have those two picked up, just in case."

"Yes, Mistress."

Natla sat back in her wheelchair and considered. "While you're at it, bring up anything you can on Mark Donovan's known acquaintances. People he works with on a regular or irregular basis. Flag any with dossiers that look even REMOTELY suspicious or shady."

"Yes, Mistress."

_A man with a seal on records pertaining to the military...this man is getting to be more trouble than David Connors ever was, and I've only just heard about him._ She wheeled herself to a console and tapped a button."Report."

"The progress on the OMA is almost complete. Cellular structure appears stable even through stimulated metamorphosis. Full biological weapon apparati are implanted and ready. Estimated time of completion: nineteen hours, less if we can easily bypass any possibility of cellular rejection."

"Good. I may need it sooner than I expected. Natla, out."

Mark's phone rang, jolting him out of sleep and bringing him to full alertness instantly. He grabbed the phone receiver and picked it up."What?"

"And good evening to you too, kind sir," Bob said casually.

"What've you got for me?" Mark demanded.

"We are talking deep BLACK stuff here, choomba. This stuff is so vile, I'm cleaning out my home as we speak and moving to another location."

"I thought when I blew the computers..."

"For Christ's SAKE, Mark, not over an open line!!"

"Sorry...still waking up." Mark clapped a scrambler over the receiver.

"Better?"

"Much. Alright, Mark, listen close, because no matter how good our scanners might be, this still might be a party line. I'm not going to repeat anything. First off, Jacqueline Natla is ALIVE. Second, she's got hold of an object known as the Scion of Atlantis, properties and capabilities unknown, but the Scion is mentioned HEAVILY in her communiqués. Third, she's been working on a whole slew of biological weapons..."

"I think I've met a few of them."

"Don't interrupt. They could be breaking down my door any second. These things are seriously nasty, and she's breeding them all over the place.Peru, Trinidad, Moscow, China, Africa, Australia, the United States...she's got a plant in just about every major country and continent, all breeding these nasty little fraggers. They're all connected to something called:

Project Tsunami. Get out of there, Mark. Take your friend and get the hell out of there NOW. Contact me at the Hole."

"Got it."

"Be careful, Mark. If Natla finds out what you were up to a few years back, there's not going to be enough left of you to fill a contact lens holder.Move it. Heloquin out."

"Damn!" Mark put the phone down. "Mace?"

"Don't tell me. 'Get packed,' right?"

"How'dja guess?"

"You've got that look, Mark." Mace grabbed a pack and stuffed some clothes into it. "So, hon, where are we going?"

"Depends. You got a passport?"

"I've got four, why?"

"We're going to take a little trip to London...by way of Peru."

"And that's where we lost them, Mistress...they left Mark Donovan's home, withdrew a large amount of money from Donovan's account and left New York.Where they are going is unknown, but we do know that he is heading west."

Natla sighed. "Then we do not know for sure WHERE he is heading yet."

The servant looked up at Natla, blinking. "I don't understand."

"I just finished the completed file on our Mr. Mark Donovan." She tossed down a file with a thick sheaf of papers spilling out over the desk on impact. "If I'd known this man existed, I would've either hired him or killed him much earlier. Let me tell you a bit about our Mr. Donovan.According to the information we liberated from the Black Vault in Langley, Virginia, this man is a veteran when it comes to doing the United States' Government's dirty laundry. Black bag operations, assassinations, high- as well as low-profile courier work, espionage, demolitions...he used to be one of their prime operatives, with the codename, 'Trickster,' due to his devilish sense of humor. That was a few years ago, and he resigned from the Agency to become a freelance photographer, no one but him knows why, exactly. He worked as such for three years, then, poof, he's gone, vanishes without a trace after following a lead to Alexandria, Louisiana. Everybody thinks he's dead until five years later, when, poof! He shows up in New York again, appearing from wherever it was that he left, not only alive, but with a wife named Alixandra Donovan who, I might add, didn't even exist until that day. Four years after that, his wife dies and he buries her in an undisclosed grave, returning to his work as a photographer. Since then, he has had dubious encounters with all kinds of people, including many with a strange individual who has met with him more than a few times driving an unregistered black Lamborghini Countach, who also seems to appear and disappear as if by magic." Natla held her head in one hand, massaging the temples. "Now do you see? There is only one reason why it appears that he is going west, and that is because he WANTS us to think that. This is a rare type of man, one that wouldn't even go to the restroom without some sort of plan. He planned to look as if he is heading somewhere, so we must be prepared to find him and Mace somewhere else. Also, I have found evidence that he has been in contact with a man known only as 'Heloquin,' and that this man may have discovered information about the Atlantic Company. Has this man been recovered?"

"No...when the agents went to his house, nothing was there, not even furniture. With the dust on the surfaces, that address has not been used for months."

"As I feared. Now we have to stop them all. Plunder Donovan's house, find out everything you can about him from what you find there. Also, send Lara 1.1 to Miami, just in case they try to leave the country. Give her orders to watch for them, but to continue concealing her existence from them. They must not know that she exists. Tell her that it is IMPERATIVE that she obey."

"So where are we going, Mark?"

"Chicago. It's the only secured line to Heloquin. Now that we've made a successful penetration, they'll be cracking down hard on communications."

Mace nodded, seeing the logic of the argument. "I have a clean-title vehicle, registered under another name. A REAL car, not that junk car YOU drive."

Mark smiled crookedly. "Whatever you say."

A half-hour later, they were on the street and heading south through Brooklyn.

Two trained agents broke through the skylight and rappelled into the wide area of Mark's living area. One of them spotted the giant PlayStation and frowned, peering at it, then said, "Whatever."

"Quiet..." his partner said.

"Why? Thermo showed no one was here, Triton. As long as we don't attract the police..."

"Still, be quiet." The one named Triton walked to the computer desk and started work on the computer's security, searching through every file to try and find if there was any clues to the whereabouts of Mace Daniels or Mark Donovan. His compatriot, Titus, moved around in a very careful, protracted search.

Triton was almost ready to give up when he found a file reference to ATLANTIC1.TXT. "Titus, I may have found something here..." he called out, then called up the file with a keypress of the ENTER key.

Unfortunately, he had the space of a second to realize that the ENTER key was made of metal, not plastic like the others.

The power supply, on a software command, transferred power from the computer itself into a thin cable leading from the heavy duty power supply into the bottom of the ENTER key. The chair Triton was sitting on was mostly metal, and the floor underneath was also where the water pipes led into the ground. The result was that electricity found an easier way to follow its traditional need to ground itself-namely, through Triton.

The force of 10 amps ran through his body and stopped his heart instantly.He was dead before he hit the floor.

Titus heard the quiet 'pop' and turned to see Triton slip to the floor. He ran over to him, checked his vital signs, then tried in vain to restart Triton's heart through CPR.

Titus had no way of knowing his run was noticed by anyone or anything.Nobody saw it, but some_thing_ noticed his rapid progress. A relay clicked silently before Titus was halfway to Triton, sending a signal to six containers hidden in the walls, which dutifully flooded the entire studio with halon gas as the door and windows locked tight.

Titus died within seconds of Triton's demise.

Mark, as a rule, HATED uninvited guests.

Mark, who would not find out about the two bodies in his place until days later, was riding in a jet-black Toronado Classic, dozing lightly while Mace drove. They would reach Chicago in a few hours, and then she would finally meet this 'Heloquin' character Mark had spoken of.

Mark had told her a little of Heloquin. Heloquin had been a hotshot who thought it would be a fine idea to crack the defenses of CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. He had hoped a ringer inside would help him ferret out some nice information. However, by the time the hacking run went down, Ames was in custody, and Donovan was knocking on Heloquin's door with a warrant, a shotgun, and a smile.

Donovan had given Heloquin a choice-go to work for the Company, or spend the rest of his mercifully short life dodging bull queers in the prison shower area. Heloquin, who had no desire to become the proud owner of a size-11 rectum, signed up. Heloquin was a bear, ravenous for information, and Donovan had given him many a choice meal, before and after his retirement. Heloquin was a fastidious sort, with his own rules and code, and Donovan respected his privacy.

"Heloquin likes his anonymity, so we set up a double-blind situation. We can contact him, but only through channels he decides are safe. He will always keep me posted on how to contact him, never the same way twice. That way, no one can trace him through me, and vice-versa. It's an ironclad firewall, because it never stays in one place. He's whip-smart, and animal-sly. He's probably the best there is, and he is loyal almost to a fault. If you don't trap him or serve him up to save your hide, he's the best friend a person could have."

"And if you do double-cross on him?"

Mark gave her a odd, sobering look. "Then the living shall envy the dead."

Mace didn't ask.

When they arrived at Chicago, Mark gave her directions to a place on the North Side, a small house which smacked of suburbia. It reeked of Wally and the Beaver, Mace thought.

"A nice young couple rents the place," Mark said. "They think I'm the custodian, come in to check out the place." He went upstairs, past the main bedroom, then stopped at a room which held a desk with a computer and a bed in the far corner. Mark closed the door, then hit the ENTER key.

The screen flared to life, a message typed onscreen. "YOU'RE LATE."

CAUGHT IN TRAFFIC, Mark typed.

"YOU'D BE LATE FOR YOUR OWN FUNERAL."

GOD, I HOPE SO. HEL, WHAT MORE CAN YOU GIVE ME ON ATLANTIC?

"STRONG STUFF YOU SENT ME. MIGHT AS WELL CALL ATLANTIS BY ITS OLD NAME, NATLA TECHNOLOGIES. AS JAGGER ONCE SAID, MEET THE NEW BOSS, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS. STILL INVOLVED IN BIOGENETIC/BIONETIC ADVANCES, TAILORED GENOMES, PERSONALIZED CREATURES. DABBLING IN THINGS LEFT BEST ALONE MIGHT AS WELL BE THEIR MISSION STATEMENT. I'VE GOT OODLES OF DATA, NONE OF IT GOOD. THIS STUFF IS WAY BEYOND ANYTHING I'VE EVER SEEN, AND I'VE SEEN GENETIC PROCESSES BEFORE. ALSO, NATLA IS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD, KILLED IN A FIREFIGHT WITH DAVID CONNORS AND LARA CROFT ALMOST A YEAR AGO...BUT SHE ISN'T. THE ORDERS COMING DOWN FROM ON HIGH MATCH HER KNOWN PSYCH PROFILE BY 92%. IF SHE'S NOT RUNNING IT, HER TWIN SISTER IS...IF SHE HAD ONE."

Mark groaned. DETAILS ABOUT CURRENT OPERATIONS, he typed.

"BE SPECIFIC. I HAVE 402 GIGABYTES OF INFORMATION TO SORT THROUGH."

HOLD ON. Mark turned to Mace, then turned back to the terminal. COULD ATLANTIC/NATLA CLONE A HUMAN BEING?

"Cloning?" Mace asked, puzzled.

"I've been going over what you said about her being there at the right time, how you immediately thought it was her, even though we both know that it would have been impossible for her to be there." Mark waited for Heloquin to digest the question. "Maybe it wasn't Lara..."

"POSSIBILITY 100%, BUT WHETHER OR NOT SHE HAS PERFECTED THE PROCESS IS UNKNOWN. CURRENT TECHNOLOGY UNABLE TO DESIGN A VIABLE CLONE FROM UNIVERSAL POPULATION. DRAWBACKS INCLUDE MENTAL RETARDATION, INABILITY TO HANDLE NORMAL FOOD, DISASSOCIATION SYNDROME, GENETIC ANOMALIES, SOCIOPATHY, PSYCHOPATHY, PATHOLOGICAL PSYCHOSES...IN SHORT, YOU CAN CLONE LOWER ANIMALS, BUT ANIMALS WITH HIGHER BRAIN FUNCTIONS-LIKE HOMO SAPIENS- CANNOT DUPLICATE THEMSELVES WITHOUT CREATING INFERIOR COPIES. NATLA MAY HAVE PERFECTED MANY OF THE PROCESSES, BUT UNTIL SHE UNSEATS GOD HIMSELF FROM HIS THRONE, SHE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO *PERFECTLY* CLONE SOMEONE."

Mark frowned. WHAT WOULD BE OPTIMUM CONDITIONS FOR CLONING OF HOMO SAPIENS?

A pause. "GENETIC ENGINEERING IS NOT MY FORTE, BUT IT SEEMS THAT THE CHANCES FOR SUCCESS INCREASE WITH A SUBJECT WITH A GENOME THAT COULD HAVE GREATER STABILITY. MIXING GENES WITH MANY GENOTYPES TENDS TO CREATE A 'CHAOS FACTOR.' EVER STUDY CHAOS THEORY? NEVER MIND, I'LL EXPLAIN. WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU BUILD A SUSPENSION BRIDGE WITH LOOSE WIRES, A BAD FOUNDATION, AND IMPROPER TIGHTENING OF BOLTS AND RIVETS? ANSWER: A BRIDGE NOT WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN IRON, BUT FLEXIBLE. NOW, TIGHTEN THE BOLTS, TIGHTEN THE WIRES AND HARDEN OR THICKEN THE FOUNDATION. WHAT DO YOU GET? A MORE STABLE BRIDGE, BUT LESS FLEXIBLE. SO FAR, SO GOOD. BUT TIGHTEN THINGS UP SO TIGHT THAT THERE IS NO GIVE OR TAKE AT ALL, AND THE BRIDGE BECOMES SO ORDERED THAT THE COURSE OF RANDOM EVENTS CAN BREAK IT DOWN. ALL CONSTRUCTS HAVE TO HAVE SOME LEVEL OF GIVE, A SMALL AMOUNT OF CHAOS. TOO MUCH ORDER CAN LEAD TO A BREAKDOWN OF THE SYSTEM, JUST AS MUCH AS TOO MUCH CHAOS. LIKE WINDING A WATCH SPRING TOO TIGHT, IT CAN BREAK."

SO? Mark typed.

"SAME WAY WITH THE GENETIC STRUCTURE. EXCESSIVE BREEDING WITH OTHER GENOTYPES LEADS TO A GENOME THAT HOLDS TOGETHER ON ITS OWN, BUT CANNOT BE ARTIFICIALLY COPIED ACCURATELY WITHOUT SERIOUS MENTAL OR PHYSICAL PROBLEMS.SINCE A CLONE IS NOT BASED UPON TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT GENETIC CODES, LIKE THE NATURAL PROCESS OF HAVING BABIES, BUT ON A COPY OF ITSELF, EXCESSIVE *INBREEDING* LEADS TO A GENOME THAT IS, QUITE LITERALLY, STALE.IT TENDS TO FALL APART IF CLONED. A GENOME BEST FOR CLONING HAS A LOT OF ORDER, BUT A LITTLE CHAOS, TO MAKE IT DURABLE AND FLEXIBLE."

Mark's head was beginning to hurt. WHERE CAN ATLANTIC/NATLA DO THIS RIGHT NOW?

A long pause. "THEY HAVE A FACILITY IN THE CARRIBEAN ISLAND OF TRINIDAD.BASED ON THE AVAILABLE INFORMATION, IF THEY CAN DO IT ANYWHERE, THEY DID IT THERE."

Mark looked to the screen in admiration, then typed, SEND ME A FILE ON THE TRINIDAD SITE ONLY. I'LL PRINT IT UP.

"WATCH YOURSELF. THESE PEOPLE PLAY FOR KEEPS."

SO DO I. Mark set the terminal to receive and print out the file, then said, "Well, Mace...how does a trip to the islands sound?"

Mace pulled her jacket around her when she got out of the car. "Sunny Florida..." she said wryly.

"What do you expect? It's the middle of December." Mark got out on the driver's side and closed the door. He noted with little amusement that even the hotel sign was decorated with green garlands and extra multi-colored lights.

"Yeah, but I thought it'd be warmer than THIS."

"Blame El Nino. Come on, we'd better hole up here for the night. Our flight to Brazil leaves in the morning and we don't want to hang around here any longer than necessary." Mark checked his watch. "Eight-thirty...that gives us just over seven hours to get to the airport."

Mace stopped as she looked across the street. "Mark...!"

Mark Donovan turned to see a figure waiting across the street, sitting on a Harley-Davidson Shadow, colored as black as the winter night with a red streak down the side. The figure was female, attractive...and familiar. As Mark and Mace watched, the woman brought up her left hand and pointed a finger at them, mimicking the shape of a gun.

"Holy...Mark, that's her! THAT'S HER!!!" Mace started forward a few steps, just close enough to see her face, her granny-glasses...and her smile. Her catch-me-if-you-can smile.

Mark walked forward and saw her start up her motorcycle, then yelled, "MACE, GET TO THE CAR!" He needn't have bothered; Mace was already running across the snowy ground back to the Toronado. She threw open the door and jumped in as Mark started the car.

Lara 1.1 smiled and gunned the engine, waiting for the car to pull out of the parking space. She wanted to know a few things about the people chasing her...most of all, just how committed they were to the chase. It was a new experience, disobeying her Mistress...a few days before, it would've been unthinkable.

But things had changed, hadn't they? Her simple existence, her goals had faltered. There was too much that just didn't sit right with her, and there was too much of the real Lara Croft in her for her to just let it all slide.

As the Toronado eased back to begin, Lara 1.1 grinned and popped the clutch, sending the motorcycle off over the sludge covered streets. The Toronado barreled after her, the tires skidding on new-fallen snow.

"Dammit, Mark, watch it!" Mace hung on as the car fishtailed around. "I just had it detailed!"

"Mace...!"

"I know, I know...she's the only link we've got to whatever's really going on, right?"

Mark grinned as he re-oriented the car to go after the motorcycle. "You may just be a good private eye yet, Mace."

Lara 1.1 smiled, feeling the rhythm of the spiked tires under her. _Come along, lady and gent. I'm not getting any younger._ She tore off through the alleys, choosing those with plenty of debris and plenty of room for the huge vehicle behind her. The Toronado came on fast, closing the distance until Lara 1.1 broke out into cross-traffic, riding straight through the honking and screeching cars as if she was racing on an open track. Mark drove through, forced to slow to avoid an oncoming cab.

"Shit!!" Mark swerved, then raced after the motorcycle.

"She's gotta be barking-at-the-moon crazy to keep this speed up!"

"No, wait...look!" Mace pointed off to the right. "See that smoke?"

"Yeah...looks like factories or something..." Mark suddenly figured it out."She must be heading for the railroad tracks or the highway. At this time of night, the stores'll be closing up from the Christmas rush...the streets'll be packed."

"And she'll lose us. Do you think she knows that?"

"She has to...now I know how the Headless Horseman feels." Mark stomped on the gas pedal and the car leaped forward. "We can't let her get to the highway!"

Lara 1.1 heard the throaty rumble of the Toronado behind her and accelerated. She was tempting fate and she knew it; a sharp turn at these speeds and on the icy roads would be suicide. But a strange calm filled her, as if she was not really there, just playing a sort of video game where the fear of death and injury were not personal threats, just distant ones. All she felt was the thrill of the chase, a commitment to finding out the truth about herself and a dedication to one goal: to make sure that her pursuers didn't lose the scent. This chase, she knew, would determine just how interested Mace Daniels and Mark Donovan were to finding Lara 1.0 and David 1.0.

Lara 1.1 slowed, hearing the engine protest as she swerved to the left, heading for the river.

Mark swore and slowed, bringing the hulk around to follow Lara 1.1. "Next time, Mace, get a smaller car!"

"Oh, gee, Mark, I'm sorry my powers of prophecy weren't working when I bought the Toronado!" Mace shot back.

"She's gonna make it...shit!" Mark saw the bike pull away and head for the on-ramp going up to the Miami freeway. "We'll never catch her now..."

"Look!" Mace pointed. "She's slowing down!"

Mark watched as the bike stopped just before hitting the concrete of the on-ramp. As the Toronado closed the distance, Lara 1.1 looked back at them.She was more than a hundred yards away by this time, but even through the dark and the snow, Mace swore that Lara was smiling.

The motorcycle spun its wheels, kicking up gravel and propelling the two-wheeled missile away from the off-ramp towards the south...towards the railroad tracks. Mark tromped on the gas and went off after her.

"What the hell's her game?" Mark said through his teeth, "Is she trying to get caught?"

"Maybe she's a decoy...trying to draw us away from something," Mace offered. "So what do we do?"

"When in doubt, go with what works! Get over here and drive!"

"Why?"

Mark drew out a Glock 19. "'Cause _I_ wanna shoot her!"

"Are you nuts?"

"Does anything in the last hour strike you as particularly sane? If this woman is anything like the Lara Croft I've heard about, this isn't going to stop her...but it may slow her down." Mark slid to the side as Mace squirmed into place, the car moving from side to side. Mace grabbed the wheel just in time to see headlights fill the windshield and she yelled, swerving to the right. Both in the car felt the truck strike the side, metal ripping against metal as the left rear fender became a ragged memory.

Mace settled into the seat and cursed. "I remember now why I like driving with you so much. I so enjoy writing checks to a mechanic or body shop after every trip!" She gunned the engine and searched the road. "Where is she?"

"There, to the left...she's alongside the tracks."

"There's a train on the tracks..." Mark observed.

"There, third car from the back!" Mace turned left and barreled past the threatening NO CIVILIAN TRAFFIC BEYOND THIS POINT sign, decorated with seven bullet holes. "I swear to God, Mark, this woman shot at me and wrecked whatever I had left with David...do we need her alive?"

"Don't know...she knows something about what's going on, but there's no way to tell what, MACE, WATCH THAT SHACK!!"

The Toronado blasted through an abandoned tool shack, sending corrugated tin and wood flying.

"What shack?" Mace grinned.

Mark had a distinct feeling that Mace was becoming as crazy as he was...and he wasn't sure whether that was good or bad.

Lara 1.1 found better traction on the dirt and gravel, pushing the bike to go even faster. The motorcycle was pushing eighty, suicidal speeds even by the standards of the local street gang. Her small glasses were hardly up to the task of guarding her eyes from the wind and the cold, forcing her to limit her vision by squinting. She was feeling the bite of the cold even through her leathers and thick jacket.

Lara 1.1 was enjoying every minute. Mark would've thought her crazier than the both of them.

She downshifted and persuaded the machine to go even faster, roaring over tracks and ground, dodging train cars, some empty, some moving. Each shudder of the tires was a joy to feel through the chassis of the motorcycle.

She turned to check on the progress of the Toronado, then turned forward to find herself running parallel to a track. Far off, about a mile away, the lone light of an oncoming train brought a smile to her face and Lara 1.1 turned the bike to the left, jumping between the rails.

Her smile widened and she threw back her head, erupting in a scream of triumph.

Mark heard her shriek even over the roar of the car's engine. "She's certifiable...!"

"Mark, are you just going to stand there in idle worship or are you even going to TRY and shoot her?!?" Mace bellowed.

Mark nodded, climbing through the window and leaning out over the ceiling of the car, gritting his teeth against the cold wind whipping through his hair. He sighted in on the motorcycle, but even his aim was less than perfect under these conditions and he knew it. Mark had to settle for suppressive fire and hope for the best. He fired; slow, paced shots that sprayed the motorcycle. He saw some flashes, but couldn't be sure he'd hit anything vital.

Although he'd never know, Mark had indeed hit.

Lara 1.1 felt fire burning into her side and fought to stay on the bike.

She was almost free.

Mark yelled, "I can't see...what's up ahead?!"

"I don't know!!" Mace yelled back. "Wait...we're heading for the coast...we passed a river on the way, YEAH! There's a bridge coming up, leads past a shipyard!!"

"She's gonna make for the bridge! Come on, Mace, FASTER!"

"I go any faster in this thing and we'll start going back in time, Mark!"

"Jesus...!" Mark lowered the gun. "She's heading right for the train!"

Lara 1.1 counted the seconds.

The train finally saw her. The engineer swore and leaned on the whistle, but Lara only coaxed more speed out of the motorcycle. The two vehicles hurtled towards each other, both locked on course. Mace had to tear her eyes away from the scene to keep from becoming a train-related fireball herself, feeling the rumble of another train moving past her at a much slower speed. Mark watched, unable to tear his eyes away as the distance between the train and Lara 1.1 vanished. He squeezed his eyes shut to protect himself against the flash of the explosion...

No boom.

Mark opened his eyes and promptly pronounced them liars.

Lara 1.1 was still alive, driving past the train...somehow, she managed to evade the train before it steamrollered her! "Mace!"

"I saw it...! She's got balls, I'll give her that!"

"She's heading for the bridge! Think we can catch up to her by then?!"

"I think so!"

The tone of Mace's voice made Mark look back into the car. "What makes you so sure?"

"Look! The red lights are flashing at the bridge...that means there's a ship coming through! The bridge'll be up!"

Lara 1.1 saw the red lights up ahead and felt intense relief.

The wild ride was almost over. As she barreled straight for the bridge, Lara 1.1 was very glad to see the end of it ahead of her.

"Mace...I've got some good news. Any chance that she'd be crazy enough to try jumping the bridge just went to nil."

"Why?"

"The bridge doesn't split upwards...it pivots and swings away to the side!" Mark smiled. "We've got her trapped." He watched as she got to the bridge's pivot point and stopped. "BINGO!"

Lara 1.1 gradually slowed the bike and stopped at the pivot point, turning the bike perpendicular to the approaching Toronado. She felt down by her side, wincing as her fingers probed the bloody hole. _Thank God...it isn't too deep. I'll be right as rain in a little bit._ She turned back to the car. It had stopped by this time and the doors opened, Mark and Mace stepping out and standing at the sides of the car.

"Alright, Lara...or whoever the hell you are...you've got some fast talking to do!" Mark yelled. "And don't try anything stupid!"

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Ms. Daniels. I really mean that," Lara 1.1 added.

"Same here, lady...I never got the chance to tell you how much I enjoyed your last visit to my office. Mind if I pull out a shotgun and greet you now the way you greeted me then?" Mace said acidly.

"Sorry, Ms. Daniels...but I was under orders."

"Whose orders?" Mark asked.

Lara 1.1 looked at him, as if for the first time. He looked unfamiliar to her, and moved easily despite his size. "Who are you? I don't remember inviting you on this escapade. Did Ms. Daniels call you in, or are you doing this for someone else?"

"Mace called me in on this, 'Lara Croft'...and as for who I am, I guarantee that if you really knew, it would wipe that smug smile off your face. Ask your boss, maybe she'd know."

Lara 1.1 looked at him, startled for a moment. _He's guessing, that's all it is,_ she thought. "Maybe I will ask her, Mr. Donovan. Whether you overestimate your worth has yet to be determined, Mr. Donovan, but you made it this far."

Mark smiled, a smile that Lara 1.1 found chilling. "So, who's pulling your strings, meat puppet?"

"Sorry, Mr. Donovan...but that would spoil the ending, I'm afraid. There's a lot left for you two yet to do, and I'm on something of a schedule. I've got a plane leaving for the islands before midnight, and I'd hate to lose out on my frequent flyer mileage."

"You're not going anywhere," Mark said with finality.

"And what are you going to do, Mr. Donovan? Shoot me where I stand?"

"If it comes to that." Mark's voice betrayed menace and what seemed to be a terrible regret, the acceptance that things would go from bad to worse and that it didn't matter to him either way.

"Don't worry, Mr. Donovan...I won't come past you, if that's what you're demanding. I give my word."

"As what? I didn't think test-tube babes like you understood the concept of one's word."

Lara 1.1 frowned. "So you know."

"Not everything, but enough to be very dangerous to you and your boss.You're going to tell us the rest, it'll make things easier. Doesn't the Easy Way sound good?"

"I wouldn't know. I've never tried it."

Mace stepped forward. "Listen, 'Lara,' I've had just about enough of you.I've had enough of your games and your little tricks. Now start talking, dammit."

"Sorry. I'm not quite the conversationalist tonight...although I will tell you this: you're not the only ones who've been played for fools. Follow me...if you can." With that, Lara 1.1 sprang back onto the motorcycle and shifted into second.

Mark aimed the gun at the rear tire and pulled the trigger, but he only heard a click. "SHIT!" he cursed, popping out the empty clip and slamming another home, but by that time, Lara 1.1 was accelerating at high speed...

...AWAY from the two of them.

Mace ran forward a few steps. _What is she...??_

Lara 1.1 saw the edge of the bridge coming up fast. It was more than a hundred feet to the water below, and if the outside chill was a standard to go by, the water was absolutely frigid!

She smiled. Lara 1.0 must LOVE this sort of thing...

Mace and Mark watched in shock as Lara 1.1 rode the bike right off the edge of the bridge into freefall, leaping from the bike and breaking into a swan dive. She moved through the air gracefully, hitting the water and disappearing.

"WHAT THE...?! I don't believe this!" Mark holstered his weapon and looked down at the water, its dark surface giving no sign that anyone was even there.

"So now what?" Mace asked, almost speechless with rage.

"Well, we know it's Natla."

"Oh? And how do we know that?"

"I saw her face when I said 'she.' It went just the way I thought it would."

Mace sighed hard. "So, do we go to Brazil now?"

"We have to go to Trinidad by way of Brazil. I do hope we run into her again."

"With our rental? Shipping the Toronado costs too much just to run a person down. Besides, the detailing costs ALONE..."

"No. I want to talk to her."

"She's not about to tell you willingly, you know."

Mark looked back to Mace. "She'll talk. To me, she'll talk."

"And why would she talk to you, if I may ask?"

Mark smiled that ghastly smile again. "Because to her, it will be better than the alternative. Come on, let's get back to the hotel and get some sleep."

Lara 1.1 pulled herself out of the icy water onto the dirty sand surrounding the railyards and withdrew her radio. "Lara 1.1 to Base. Come in, Base."

"Natla here. Report."

"It went bad, Mistress. Mark Donovan and Mace Daniels spotted me."

"Damn! I told you not to let yourself be seen!"

"Circumstances went bad, Mistress. However, they were unable to recognize me; I wore a disguise to make sure that they would not recognize me as anyone who looked like Lara Croft. I was forced in the ensuing chase to ditch into the river, hence my appearance."

"You are completely certain they did not recognize you?"

"Absolutely."

Natla face calmed. "Good...the situation would've become intolerable had you been identified."

"The situation has changed, however. Through my surveillance, I have discovered that they have identified a link to the plant in Trinidad. I am certain that they will go there in an attempt to uncover the conspiracy surrounding my existence."

Natla's face hardened. "How did they discover the link?"

"Information from an undetermined source. I believe that their hacker friend, 'Heloquin,' provided it for them when he plumbed the site in New York. I have been unable to locate the hacker."

"Neither have we. My agents traced him to a house in Queens, which promptly exploded once my team tried to enter. Nine agents were lost. For now, we must abandon searching for this...Heloquin. I have to move all operations to another plant and prepare an appropriate reception for those two."

"I have been wounded. I will return to the plant in Trinidad for recovery and will assist in evacuation and information re-assignment and destruction...since we know where they're going. They will be taking a roundabout trip to Brazil, in an attempt to throw us off the trail. That will give us more time."

"Good. Contact me when you confirm your ETA at Trinidad. Natla out."

Lara 1.1 clicked off the radio and smiled. _This was working better than I'd hoped. I'd better hurry if Mace and Mark will be able to stay on the trail. _She crawled up to firmer land and walked until she found the pack she'd hidden among the tufts of grass near the road. She quickly changed her clothes and bandaged herself, withdrawing the bullet and making sure that none of the damage would show through.

One wardrobe change and taxi ride later, she was at the airport buying a ticket to Trinidad. She was now dressed in a classy business suit and knee-length skirt, her wet hair combed back and put in a bun on her head.Her figure had been modified to look more inconspicuous by a slimming bra and padding around the waist, completing the appearance of an attractive woman, but a woman without the tell-tale physique of an busty adventuress.

Lara 1.1 took her boarding pass to the gate and sat down to wait for the plane to start allowing passengers to board the plane. As she did, her mind was moving like a clock set on fast-forward, planning out how she was going to arrange the computer mainframe to allow Mace and Mark to find out more without alerting Jacqueline Natla. It wasn't easy for Lara 1.1 to stay a step ahead of her and she could guess what would happen to her if Natla found out she was changing sides on her.

But right now, what side Lara 1.1 was on was not nearly as important as discovering her true place in the world. She would do anything to find out.

ANYTHING.

Mark went to his room and called Mace Daniels in.

"Yes, what is it? I'm tired," Mace said crossly.

"Get packed, we leave in ten minutes."

Mace was too tired to look surprised, but she made a fair job of it. "For Brazil?"

"No, straight to Trinidad."

"What about 'the element of surprise' that you went on about?" Mace asked, looking cross.

"We lost it. As soon as that other Croft clone saw us, we lost it. Now we have to get over there quickly." Mark pointed to an e-mail message displayed on his laptop:

TRINIDAD TRAFFIC INCREASING. INPUT 45% OF OUTPUT. HIGH-SPEED DOWNLOAD FROM FACILITY UNTRANSLATABLE. TRYING TO DECODE, BUT HAVING NO LUCK. OWE YOU STEAK DINNER. WILL TRY TO GET INFO ON TRANSPORTS, BUT SUGGEST YOU HAUL IT OVER THERE. SOUNDS LIKE THEY ARE CLEANING HOUSE.

H.Q.

Mark pulled out a hardcopy map of the island, with the facility marked in red. "This is pretty far inland, and it's pretty remote, so parachuting in would not be a very good option. However, I know a friend around here with some equipment we could use..."

When Lara 1.1 arrived at the plant, Natla was coolly ordering the servants to perform their evacuation duties and keeping updates on what was being moved and what was allowed to stay. Guardbeasts were sectioned off in cages, to be released once the last few servants had left the area.Biological hazards in gaseous, liquid and flesh forms were being shipped out in their containers, made to be detachable in case of such an emergency. Labs were being folded up, experiments documented, copied and then destroyed. The computer mainframes were uploading their contents like crazy to other areas capable of continuing the research.

Natla wheeled into the main lab as Lara 1.1 joined the other lead technicians. "Good, you made it back in record time. How are you?"

"The wound is healing well...amazingly well. Was I always capable of this sort of recovery?"

"Well, I took the liberty of improving you in subtle ways...you can actually regenerate damage to some degree, and you are physically and mentally superior to what you were before since I augmented your DNA sequences."

"Augmented? You mean I'm not human anymore?"

"Relax, Lara...you are still quite human. You're just better, that's all.Now, I must see to the transport of my personal projects, not to mention the Scion. Make sure that things are wrapped up here before you leave, and that you leave well before Mace Daniels and Mark Donovan get here. I'm counting on you."

"You've already done so much for me, Mistress. The least I can do is help you."

Natla smiled. "Yesss...you're right. You owe me a great deal, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Then don't let me down." Natla wheeled off in the direction of the landing strip and Lara 1.1 went to work....after making a small side trip to one lab in particular.

The Main Examination Room.

"This is NOT a good idea!" Mace spoke loudly to be heard over the sound of the air whistling through the cabin of the Learjet.

Mark was behind her, strapping himself into a flight harness. "I thought you said you could manage hang-gliding...!"

"Not when you have to assemble it in midair!"

"You know, you never would be able to hack it..."

Mace had jumped out the door before Mark could say another word. He smiled to himself, then jumped out after her.

Lara 1.1 closed the door behind her. The room was always lit by harsh, yellow lights that brought out every detail in the room in a stark, almost unreal way. Every tool, every tube, every single bubble floating leisurely to the top of the semi-clear fluid in the transparent containers that made up the walls of the chamber...it all looked like pieces of some surrealist's nightmare.

She knew this area well. It was her nursery. It was here that Lara 1.1 was reborn into the world of matter and life...and where other things were born, but none quite as aesthetically pleasing as her. Many of those things were not bred for their appearance, but many were. The failures occupied the containers, in all shapes except the one shape the designer wanted.

The shape of the man on the table, asleep and unaware.

Lara 1.1 went to the table and pushed three of the trays aside, standing right next to David Connors' prone body. She reached out and brushed his hair away from his face reverently, then leaned over him and ran her hands over him searchingly. _Where are you, David? Stuck in some dream trap, perhaps no dreams at all? Maybe you're dreaming of her...of me. Which one is it? The one you helped, the one who took away my life and took her place? Or are you dreaming of me, the one who was left behind?_

"Or did she?" she asked herself out loud. "What am I, David? Am I a woman, or am I a tool for someone else's work?" She picked up out of the instruments, a thin scalpel used for removing layers of skin. "Am I nothing more than an instrument like this?"

Lara 1.1 suddenly held it under his neck, her lips pulling away from her teeth in a grimace. "You can not tell me, David Connors...but I swear by Heaven and Hell that I WILL know," she hissed, "even if I have to burn everything there is down. You, the other Lara, Natla, NONE of you matter as much as my need to know. I do not want to destroy any of you...but whoever is responsible for what has happened to me will find out what the wages of their sins really are. I promise that on my life."

She put the blade down and stepped back. "Your clone will be decanted soon.I have to go, David. There are only a couple of days left before your friends arrive. There is so much left to do and I don't know how much time I have left. I don't even know," Lara 1.1 added thoughtfully, "if I shall want you for myself or if I shall want you dead and dismembered. Life is so confusing sometimes. But my confusion WILL be over soon, David. That I promise you. Whether you are agreeable or not..." Lara 1.1 cocked an eyebrow. "We'll see. Oh yes, we'll see."

Her phone ringed and she opened it. "Yes? Yes, Mistress. I will be there shortly. I just need to finish up here. It is? Good. I'll be right there." She put the phone away and turned back to David. "I have to go now, dear.Your latest brother is ready."

The doors hissed closed behind her.

Mace counted to 10, then yanked on the stirrup, hoping Mark had been telling the truth about the funny contraptions Mark had finagled out of the swarthy Swede at Miami.

The box unfolded from her back, giving her the illusion of having bat-wings, then stiffened as the wing 'joints' locked in place. She looked behind and above her to see Mark unfolding his portable glider as well, swooping down to take the lead. He wore the same black suit that she did, another request from the Swede.

She wondered if she would be able to keep this suit and glider. It would make traveling around the city easier. "Mark, comm test," she whispered into the throat microphone.

"I hear you loud and clear." Mark's voice was diminished by the transmitter in her ear.

"Won't they see us?"

Mark said, "No. Follow me in." He pivoted in the air, then aimed the glider towards the island. Mace followed.

"Mistress, I wish to speak with you."

"What is it?" Natla asked irritably. She had just received the news that Mace Daniels and Mark Donovan had recently left the Miami airport in a chartered plane after spending only a few hours in town. As a result, she'd had to move up her timetable after discovering that an OTHB radar array had picked up their plane heading east-southeast, directly towards Trinidad, not towards Brazil. She couldn't tell whether the two investigators had clearly lost their minds, heading directly for Trinidad, or whether they were simply abandoning pretense and subtlety. _Maybe they had other plans.Or maybe I have overestimated their intelligence...to my regret._

"What will we do with David Connors?" asked Lara 1.1.

"The original? We're taking him with us. Should the other Lara decide to plague us, we will have the perfect bait. Also, I have a few plans for what to use his genetic material for..."

"You're not going to hurt him, are you?"

Natla turned to Lara 1.1 and smiled. "Of course not, Lara. He has brought me no harm, so why should I harm him? He will be perfectly safe with us.Now come along...we must go."

As Lara 1.1 followed Natla, her suspicions were becoming confirmed. Natla's veneer of benevolence towards her and David was beginning to fray noticeably, and Lara 1.1 wondered at what point she herself would become an irrelevance. "Mistress...I don't mean to impose, but I wish to voice a request. I have become somewhat...fond of David Connors, the real David. I was wondering if it would be possible for me to keep him once this is all over."

"Keep him? Lara, he is not some housebroken dog. He is the type of man to consciously ally himself with the one who has taken over your life, remember that. You would be much better off with his clone, the successful one."

"No offense, Mistress, but he has the mind of a child."

"All the better. He will be much easier to train as your pet and slave. He will become totally dependent upon you. Doesn't that sound preferable to an unpredictable cohort of your enemy?"

This time, however, Lara 1.1 ignored the sense of agreeability and subservience that usually came over her when Natla posed such a question to her. "Of course you're right, Mistress," Lara 1.1 said, not meaning it in the least. "The clone would be much more useful." _As a doorstop,_ she mentally added.

"Glad to hear it. Now, you stay here and make sure everything is in order.Join me later at Site Beta."

"Yes, Mistress," Lara 1.1 said as Natla left the building, heading for the helipad.

Radar picked up the two incoming blips, then examined them. The gliders, thin enough to bollix radar, didn't show up at all. Two seagulls flying in from the sea were hardly cause for alarm, so radar chose to ignore them. It could not take into account the fact that they were moving in a beeline towards the installation, limited by its own mechanical perceptions to the reality of what the reflected radar waves told it.

As Mark would say, machines were stupid.

Mark landed softly on the rise near the facility, laying flat on the ground and letting the glider cover him. Mace landed nearby, landing a little lighter than she was accustomed to. She looked to Mark, then moved her hand over to the tiny keyboard on her left wrist and typed, WHAT NOW?

The response came after a pause. SURV. WAIT, the screen said.

Mark took out a small set of night-vision binoculars, then crawled like an alligator to a better vantage point, examining the facility in a slow pan.

Activity was heavy at this point in time, and Mark hated being right about this. They were all moving out, no question. MOVING DAY, he typed.

WHERE 2? came the response.

Mark looked out, then started entering ID numbers for every helicopter and Osprey he could see on the tarmac, saving them to a hardcard in the MANTAC unit on his wrist. Heloquin could flag the IDs later wherever they landed.

Mark paused, spotting movement on the landing area, and focused in on the movement.

Many people walking...but one person in a wheelchair.

Mark went to maximum magnification and was treated to the face in profile.

He remembered it from the files on Natla/Atlantic.

WHAT? came the message from Mace.

"Good morning, Mr. Phelps," he whispered. NATLA, he typed. STAY WHERE U R, he added, and watched the wheelchair carefully.

He had a rifle with a scope sighted in for 800 yards and a clear shot to the woman...but even if he had had the rifle with him, he couldn't risk a shot. Natla was the key to finding David, and dead Atlantean women tell no tales.

But live ones could be downright talkative, when given proper incentive.Mark made a personal promise to get Natla alone in the near future. He had a LOT of questions to ask her...

He watched her enter one of the aircraft and punched in its number, putting five stars next to it to mark its priority. He wished he could get closer, but the opposition was far too strong. Trickster would have made it easy, but Trickster was gone, maybe for good.

He turned his attention to other areas, noting the presence of many boxes marked with the telltale BIOHAZARD symbols. _What were in those? More monsters, like the one in the previous facility?_

Lara 1.1 went back in to supervise the dispensation of the remaining biologicals, secretly activating the nerve gas dispensers instead of the pheremonal agitators in the cells containing the animal biohazards that Natla left behind. With everything set up the way she wanted it to be, Lara 1.1 went out to the last remaining helicopter and climbed aboard. "TAKE US UP!" she yelled, looking down at the compound for the last time. "SITE BETA!"

The pilot nodded and took off from the helipad.

Mark moved back towards Mace, who was sleeping quietly. He envied her ability to sleep like that. Hell, he envied her ability to sleep. He woke her up with a tap on the shoulder, and pointed away from the facility. TIME 2 GO, he typed, and she understood, moving away quietly. They crawled until they were out of sight of the facility, and only then did they get to their feet, folding up the gliders again, and started hiking out towards the coast.

Mace waited until they were far enough away to talk, then said, "What do we do now?"

"We head for a hotel and wait until we are sure everyone's gone. Then I call in a few markers from some old Company friends..."

"And after?"

Mark pursed his lips. "I'll send those ID numbers to Heloquin. He can check them out, see if they are registered. If they are, he'll know when one shows up in any registered airspace in the world. If they are fake...then things will get tougher, but not impossible."

"What about these...markers?"

"In a short time, after they've all left, I'm going to call a friend and send them all the documentation I have on a company illegally creating biological weapons. What I don't have in evidence, I can make up in plausibly deniable sources of material...I know the Game well enough." Mark smiled. "I figure in about four hours, a group of Longbows from Guantanimo Bay are going to come in and drop enough tonnage to eradicate that plant from the face of the Earth. Bit of a surprise for all concerned, but by that time, we'll be on our way."

"Where are we going?"

"London. It's time to try and track down the original Lara Croft..."

Meanwhile, the copy was busy.

A few hours after the helicopter had taken off, Lara 1.1 got up from her chair and went forward to the cockpit. She was alone now, the other passengers very much dead from the silenced pistol she brought with her. As she opened the door, the co-pilot looked back at her and smiled. "How's everyone back there?"

"Fine," Lara 1.1 said flatly and shot him through the right eye. The pilot didn't even have time to turn around to see what had happened before a Teflon-coated bullet entered the back of his skull at close range, entering at such an angle that it had time to ricochet three times in his skull before exiting out his nose into the instrument panel. Lara 1.1 shoved him aside and nonchalantly climbed into the pilot's seat, noting that he had done her the favor of putting the helicopter on autopilot. She checked her timetable, then the remaining fuel. Good. Just enough. She altered the course slightly, giving the rotorcraft more speed, then opened a secure channel to a nautical radio in the Mediterranean. "Vixen to Raven. Come in, Raven."

"Raven here," said a female voice, slightly modulated. "ETA?"

"Three hours. Radio me when you see me."

"Roger."

Lara 1.1 hauled the bodies out of the cockpit, then sat back and took a book out of a backpack lying on the floor next to the pilot's chair. THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO.

It was closer to six hours when the assault helicopters came in low over the water, flying nap-of-the-earth. Two Kiowa helicopters acquired all available targets, sending the information to the Apache Longbows, who chose their targets with utmost care and precision.

Five frantic minutes later, the entire facility was a smoking shell, with no survivors noted or logged. The somewhat-expensive government officials were told through secured channels that unless they wanted a detailed investigation of the site and its connection to the numbered Swiss accounts of the aforementioned to be conducted, they would disavow any knowledge of what was being produced and end all dealings with the Atlantic Company.

As Mark would have told Mace, if one had to play The Great Game, one had to play by the unwritten rules.

Meanwhile, the real Lara Croft was quite busy.

It had been only twenty-four hours since she'd received the call, but she'd already managed to go through four square meals, punctuated by visits to a gallon tub of chocolate-chip ice cream. Mannfred was getting somewhat nervous; it wasn't like Lara to go off her diet the way she had, and he had a bad feeling he knew why, so he performed his duties without commentary or advice.

Lara moped around the house, unable to find enough motivation to do anything at all. Calls to her house went unanswered, messages were left and not returned. She hadn't even LOOKED at her obstacle course and she had asked Mannfred to tell anyone who tried to contact her that she was taking a long sabbatical. Every waking moment was plagued by the question, _why, why??_ she asked herself, wondering what she had done to push David away.Every so often, the fear that she had been too afraid to commit to David surfaced like a drowned man, and she chided herself for not taking advantage of David's desire to be with her, but Lara couldn't make the argument stick. She decided that if David couldn't respect her principles, then he didn't deserve to make the commitment.

It still hurt, though.

After finishing off the ice cream, Lara started looking for something else to satisfy her depression-inspired appetite. A knock at the door went unacknowledged as Lara, carrying a large bag of biscuits, went back to her room. Mannfred shook his head and went to the door, opening it slowly. He saw two people standing outside, a man and a woman. "May I help you?"

"Is Lara Croft here?" Mark asked, while Mace leaned up against the side of the wall outside the house.

"Lady Croft is not taking calls from visitors. She is on sabbatical and will be unavailable until further notice."

"We gotta talk to her. It's important," Mace added. "You wouldn't believe how much."

"I'm quite sure you think so, but Lady Croft is not available to take visitors. However, if you would care to leave your name and where you may be reached later, I'm sure that her Ladyship will contact you at her earliest convenience," Mannfred said firmly. _Pushy Americans,_ he thought derisively. _If it weren't for their uncouth ways, Lady Croft would still be a happy woman._

"Let me put it to you this way, old man," Mace said warningly, but Mark stopped her before she could move forward.

"Mace, please. If he says we can't come in, then we can't come in."

"WHAT??" Mace exclaimed. Mannfred looked relieved.

"We'll just have to come back later. However, there is something you could do for us that won't involve disturbing the lady of the house."

"Yes?" Mannfred asked.

"Could you tell me what that is over there?" Mark requested, pointing to the right.

Mannfred turned to the right and the next thing he knew, he was being spun around like a top, then set into a chair by the door. He looked up at Mace and Mark in dizzied consternation. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"This is what is known in America as 'getting through the defensive line.' Don't worry, just have a seat. This won't take long at all." Mark turned to Mace. "Let's go." They strode up the stairs with Mannfred trying to keep up, protesting loudly.

"If you don't get out of here, I shall call the police!"

"Go ahead. Call 'em if it makes you feel any better," Mace quipped, rounding the corner and checking the first door on her right. "Where does this go?"

"Attic," Mannfred said, quite flustered. "Now see here!"

"No thanks," Mace said shortly, walking to the next door on the right. "And this door?"

"See here, I absolutely REFUSE to endure this any longer! Lady Croft!" Mannfred yelled, hoping that his employer would come out and deal with these two malcontents in short order.

The door opened and Mace and Mark turned to see a woman with red eyes, hair tied back in a braid already starting to unravel, wearing a baggy sweatsuit and carrying a bag of cookies. The two Americans had to take a good hard look at her to recognize her as Lara Croft.

"Who are you?" Lara asked vacantly.

Mark looked to Mace, who said, "Don't you recognize me?"

"No. Should I?"

"Listen, Lara, we have to talk."

Lara's eyes grew hard. "You're Americans...who are you? Friends of David?Well, if you're here to speak on his behalf, then I have nothing to say to you. Good day. You know where the front door is."

"Lara, there's been a huge misunderstanding. I think we need to talk."

Mace's urgent manner caused Lara to reconsider. "Come in. Mannfred, fetch some tea for our guest." She walked inside, Mark and Mace following. "Now then, back to the original question. Who are you two?"

"My name is Mace Daniels. David and I used to work together. This is Mark Donovan, he's a good friend of mine. We're here because someone has been playing a sick, twisted joke on both you and me."

"A joke?" Lara sat down on the bed. "Have a seat. Explain."

Mace and Mark sat down in chairs around a table in her room, next to the windows. "Lara," Mace began, "You're going to find this really hard to believe, but hear us out before you start calling us liars. It all started when a man named Mr. Sung suddenly disappeared..."

By the time Mannfred came upstairs with the tea, Mark was explaining how he'd discovered a link between Natla Technologies and the Atlantic Company.Lara's face was unreadable as they both went on, trading off between each other the role of speaker. Mannfred stood by as Mace finished, "And that's why we're here, Lara. We need your help to get David back."

Lara remained silent until Mark asked, "Well??"

"I'm waiting for Rod Serling to come out and do the teaser." Lara Croft stood up and her face clouded with rage. "How can you stand there and tell me this incredible story? What is it, did David put you two up to this, to explain away his actions as the result of some conspiracy created by someone I killed a year ago?? This is preposterous!!"

"Come on, Lara...don't you think all this is just the littlest bit bizarre?"

"What I thought was bizarre was David calling me up at home, just after I'd recovered the Dagger of Xian, telling me that it was over between us! This story is, by comparison, complete and utter balderdash!! I want you two to leave here right now before I call the police to take you both away!"

"Lady Croft?"

Everyone turned to Mannfred, who was looking quite puzzled. "What is it, Mannfred? Surely you don't believe what these people are saying?"

"But, my Ladyship, I thought YOU told me not to let David back into the house before you came home!"

Lara went speechless, Mark and Mace likewise, but for a different reason: to let this revelation play itself out. "I beg your pardon??" Lara asked finally.

"While you were in Tibet, I received a call from you telling me that you'd broken off your association with David Connors and to have all his belongings thrown out. You even told me never to mention his name in this household again, and threatened me with unemployment if I ever did."

"I never said that! Are you sure it was me??"

"I'd know your voice anywhere, MiLady. It was you."

"Not entirely," came a voice from the door.

Everyone turned and four jaws hit the carpet at the sight of Lara Croft 1.1 entering the room. She looked around as Mannfred spun his gaze between the two Laras, then staggered back into the remaining vacant chair in the room.Lara dropped the bag of biscuits and walked in a daze towards Lara 1.1, reaching up to touch her as if she was a ghost that would disappear at any moment. "By...all that's holy...!!"

"So you're the woman Jacqueline Natla told me about. You don't look a thing like your pictures, by the by." Lara 1.1 walked over to Mace and Mark and smiled down at them. "Hello, Mace, Mark. Sorry about your office, Mace. I'd write you a check for the damages, but I don't think Mistress Natla would allow it in the least."

Now that Mace and Mark saw the two of them together, it was nearly impossible to tell them apart. They were completely identical as far as looks and physical features, but both Mace and Mark could see that there was something darker about Lara 1.1, as if she had been created by the formula that had created Mr. Hyde instead of being cloned from Lara Croft's genes. There was a subtle twist to her lips, a look in her eyes, a sense of foulness to Lara 1.1. Physically, the two were indistinguishable from one another, but a few minutes after being in the company of both and Mark and Mace wondered how'd they'd ever mistaken Lara 1.1 for the original.

Lara sat down on the bed again, biscuits forgotten. Her mind was moving at light speed, but as an avalanche of discovery and emotions thrown together.She looked up at her clone. "And David?"

"I was instructed to call him and dump him like a bad habit. He didn't take it very well at all...quite nearly drunk himself into a coma before Natla's men came and picked him up. They used him to create a clone, after several failed attempts, and had David 1.1 call you and give you the bad news."

"Natla has David??" Lara stomped her foot down, crushing the bag of cookies into powder. "MY David?"

"Wait a minute, hold the phone, stop the bus!!" Everyone turned to Mark, who was waving his hands about. "I just want to know something from you, Lara 1.1 or whatever your name is!"

"Only one thing?" she asked with a Mona Lisa smile.

"If you're here telling us all this, does that mean you're changing sides?Does Natla know you're here?"

"Yes and no."

"So what's the deal, clone?" Mace asked angrily.

Lara 1.1 sighed. "When I was created, I was taught to believe that you, Lara, were the clone and that I was the original, that you had stolen my life from me. Natla did everything she could to heal herself and keep her existence a secret, while training me to look and act like you. However, the more I learned about my 'clone,' the more I began to question that you had tried to destroy me and take my place. The more I heard, the more the story sounded fake. Finally, I decided that if I was ever going to discover the truth, I was going to have to do things my way, play dirty. Enlisting Mace and Mark's aid was somewhat easy...all I needed to do was give you two enough clues to keep you on the trail, despite everything Natla did to try and throw you off, not to mention kill you outright. Who do you think helped your friend Heloquin pull data from the plant in New York? SOMEONE had to open the lines; the mainframe was a stand-alone." She turned to the original Lara. "You've been quite silent through all this."

"Right now, I'm wondering whether I show blow your bloody brains out the top of your skull or not," Lara said coldly. "You've caused me no end of heartache, my dear little clone! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't get my shotgun and feed you buckshot?!"

"Because I'm going to help you get David back, Lara. I help you get David back and you help me get free of Jacqueline Natla for good and for all.That's the deal. When it's all over, I go my way, take a new name, new way of life, and you never have to be bothered by me ever again. What do you say, Lara? Are you game?"

"Why should I even trust you? You're betraying Natla by coming here.What guarantee do I have that you won't double-cross us as well?"

"None whatsoever. You're just going to have to trust me. As Mark Donovan might put it, 'it beats the alternative.'"

Mark and Mace looked to each other, then to Lara. She nodded. "Very well.You help me..."

"US," Mace interjected. "If you're going to get David, then I'm coming along. Try and stop me."

"Ah, what the hell...it's either this or go home and start rejecting models sooner rather than later. I'm in, too...personally, I'd like to meet this guy, David. He must be something for you two to want to get him back so badly."

"All right then...if you and the others help me, Lara-clone, and I'll forget that you ever existed. Cross us...and you'll wish YOU had never existed. Deal?"

"Deal," came the voice of Lara 1.1 through the radio, "You can rely on me."

Jacqueline Natla lay back in the chair of the control room and smiled."Ahh, treachery...my life would be so humdrum without it."

"For a woman who's agents are defecting, Natla, you sure look smug."

Natla looked back at David Connors, strapped into a motorized wheelchair."Why, David. You wound me..."

"Don't I WISH."

"...I am insulted that you think I didn't have this whole scenario planned down to the most minute detail."

David's eyes widened sharply. "You knew that clone would go behind your back??"

"Knew it? Why, David...I absolutely COUNTED on it. I knew that there would be enough of the original in the copy for her strong will to start rebelling against my statements and stories. I carefully planned her tutelage to start doubting my words and suspecting my true priorities at just the right time to start planning her escape after the real Lara was crushed by the idea that you were dumping her. Lara 1.1 rebels and leaves, going to find her 'sister' and planning to take her revenge, with the original's help, upon me at my secret base in Egypt." Natla sighed smugly."Sounds like the perfect plan...if it weren't for my knowing about before Lara 1.1 was even out of the vat."

"Then...they're all..."

"Heading right into the lion's den...only MY lions won't be quite so easy to get rid of, will they? You've seen them."

David had seen the creatures that Natla had set up around the plant...in fact, he'd be seeing them in his nightmares for years. "You can't expect me to believe that you planned all this from the start!"

"Oh really? Computer?"

"-Yes?-" the synthetic voice answered from the console.

"When was the origin date of the file for Lara 1.1's creation?"

"-February 8th, 1997.-"

"Has that file been altered since it's creation?"

"-Negative.-"

"Computer, please read to David the alternate filename for Lara 1.1."

"-Alternate filename for File #14765: 'Benedict Arnold.'-"

David looked first at the screen next to him, displaying the parameters for the file, then back at Natla, who was wheeling over to him, stopping by his side. "Now, David...you were never a part of my death, except for the death of that clone I sent out a year ago, and I'll chalk that up to simple self-defense. I've been checking you out and now I'm quite certain that you could become a valuable asset, should you make the choice. Think about it, David. You could be by my side in the new order that will come from Project Pandora, safe from my creatures and able to have everything you could ever want. You can even have a clone of Lara as a playtoy, conditioned to be completely devoted to you, willing to die for you if necessary. And even if the clone did die," Natla grinned, "we can always make another one. Of course, I'd be more than happy to take Lara's place. I'm sure, after some time, you'll grow to love me as well."

"Why me?"

"Because, David, you're the only man I've met whom I feel is capable enough to help me bring my plans to fruition. An Empress needs an Emperor, after all. You're smart, resourceful, relentless, dedicated, strong, active...I'm sure that if our genes crossbred, we could be the parents of a truly superior breed of mankind. And there would be nothing you couldn't have, David...I could even bring back your wife and child."

David stared at her. "That's impossible."

"Not for me. All I'd need...and have...is their genetic material to work with, and have them both back. Your lost wife and your charming daughter, alive and well. With your help, I'll be able to find the other Scions of Atlantis...yes, David, there are others. Eight others, as a matter of fact.If I find even one of them, intact, I'll be able to make you as immortal as myself. You'll be a god, my right hand. And with that power, you'll be able to CRUSH anyone who ever caused you pain. Those dirty cops on the force, the Mafia, the Yakuza, you'd become the greatest police officer ever, able to enforce the law beyond anything you dreamed possible. You'll have everything, EVERYTHING. What do you say, David? Would you care to think about it?"

"I don't need to." David had a new light in his eyes that Natla found reassuring. "I've decided."

"And..."

The light suddenly disappeared, replaced by a different light, the light of burning coals. "You are completely and totally out of your mind."

Natla was taken aback, her soothing smile dropping into a frown. "How can you say no? I'm offering you everything!!"

"Listen carefully, you crazy bitch. Thanks to you, I've lost everything except my soul and I'm not going to let you take that from me, too. The only thing I've got left in this world that means anything to me is Lara Croft, the _real_ Lara Croft, not some tailor-made copy. You can re-make her into whatever you want, but it won't be the original and that's all I'll ever want. So STICK IT, lady. You're on your own...!"

Jacqueline Natla halted his words with a slap across the face, as hard as she could. David's face turned slightly and his nose dripped a slow red, but that was it. "You realize, of course, that you've just killed yourself, David Connors," Natla snarled. "But before you die, you're going to see your precious Lara Croft die...and if you're lucky, my creatures will kill her before I can get to her, because if I do, I'm going to torture her for so long, she'll think it's her new career. As for you...you, I'm going to have some fun with before you die. I want you to remember this, David. I'm going to use YOU...to kill HER. And there's not a damn thing you'll be able to do to stop it."

"Are you done?" David spat back. "Let me know when I'm supposed to be shaking in fear, just so I get my cue right."

"I was wrong, David Connors...you're not smart at all. You're a stupid, STUPID little man." Natla wheeled past him angrily and his chair automatically turned to follow the signal Natla's chair was emitting. "But you'll realize just how much trouble you and your friends are in...yes, you'll figure it out. SOON ENOUGH."

Both left the communications room, heading for the labs.

"So, now what do we do?" Lara 1.1 asked. "Do we head for the plant where they'll be holding David?"

"Not yet...not by a long shot. We've got to get more info..." The phone rang, cutting David off. Two rings, then two rings again. "Shit! Lara?"

"What?" asked the two Laras.

"Hell...the original. Do you have a computer with a modem hookup?"

"Of course, right over there." Lara pointed to a desktop computer.

"Heloquin's trying to contact us on the house line. Hook up the house line to your computer and set to answer the next call that comes through. It'll be Heloquin."

Lara rushed over and hooked up the house line, moving the mouse at the same time. Her terminal came up just as the phone rang a third time. Everyone crowded around the computer screen as words came up on the telnet window.

HIYA, LARA CROFT. CAN I SPEAK TO MARK?

Lara turned to Mark. "How does he know you're here?"

"Don't ask. You're probably better off not knowing. Mind if I sit down?"

Lara relinquished the chair to Mark and he sat down. "HIYA, HEL. WHAT'S THE GOOD WORD??"

THERE ARE NONE. BRACE YOURSELVES, PEOPLE, THIS IS WHERE THINGS GET BAD.

"THINGS WEREN'T BAD ENOUGH?" Mark typed.

LISTEN CLOSE. I'M BEING DOGGED ALMOST EVERYWHERE I GO ON THE NET. NATLA'S CREW IS HUNTING ME NOW. IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME UNTIL THEY CATCH UP WITH ME. MARK, THIS IS *BIG*.

"HOW BIG?"

PEOPLE IN HIGH PLACES ON EVERY CONTINENT, PAYOFFS TO CONGRESS, THE KREMLIN, THE CIA, PARLIAMENT, MI-5, THE WHOLE SHMEAR. THERE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE A SINGLE SIGNIFICANT GOVERNMENT AGENCY WHO HASN'T BEEN, IN ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, BOUGHT OFF BY THE ATLANTIC COMPANY. YOU'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF THERE VERY SOON...LIKE IMMEDIATELY.

"GREAT...MORE BAD NEWS."

IT GETS WORSE. I'VE CRACKED THE FILES FROM THE ATLANTIC DATABASE. THERE'S A NAME THAT GOES DEEPER THAN ANYTHING, THE DEEPEST BLACK I'VE EVER SEEN. THE PANDORA PROJECT.

Mark turned to Lara 1.1. "What do you know about this project?"

"Almost nothing...this is the first I've heard of it."

Mark stared at her, then turned back to the screen. "DETAILS?"

I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO GET THE FULL DETAILS, BUT IT RUNS SOMETHING LIKE THIS: AT A PRE-DETERMINED TIME, ALL OF THE ATLANTIC COMPANY'S PLANTS START OPENING THE CAGES TO THEIR LITTLE TOYS, ON EVERY CONTINENT IN EVERY CAPITAL CITY IN EVERY COUNTRY. ALL OF NATLA'S CREATIONS ARE UNLEASHED UPON THE PUBLIC AT THE SAME TIME, CREATURES, DISEASES, YOU NAME IT. I CAN'T EVEN GUESS WHAT THE CASUALTIES MIGHT BE.

"I can," both Laras said.

The original turned to the clone. "What do you know about them?"

"I was there...I saw what Natla is creating. I don't know how many of them there are, but I do know that they've been bred to breed rapidly. If Natla plans to release them all...the damage would be incalculable!"

Mark turned back to the screen, which had been scrolling while they talked.THE WHOLE SHOOTING MATCH IS COORDINATED FROM A CENTRAL LOCATION IN EGYPT, WHERE THE PRIMARY SIGNAL WILL BE TRANSMITTED TO THE OTHERS ON A RANDOM FREQUENCY. I DON'T KNOW WHEN THE SIGNAL WILL BE SENT, BUT IF IT IS...ARMAGEDDON. HELL ON EARTH. NATLA'S OWN PERSONAL RAGNAROK AND ROLL.

"Sweet Jesus..."

THE WHOLE THING IS SET TO START SOON...LESS THAN TWO DAYS, BY MY ESTIBN7... Suddenly, a new message came up on the screen.

CARRIER LOST.

Mark stared at the screen. "They got him." Nobody spoke as Mark stood up from the chair, looking at Heloquin's last transmission, then he turned to the Laras. "Get packed. We've got ten minutes, maybe less before whoever got Heloquin gets us. Mace, see what you can scrounge from here. Lara One, you and Lara Two go to your gun cabinets and pack everything you can lay your..."

But the two Laras were already running for the closet, Lara 1.1 grabbing cases and bags from under the bed and tossing them to Lara, who was busy shoveling boxes of ammo and weaponry into the bags. Mace went to the window and stood guard, watching the outside for anyone coming up the road.

Mark shut off the computer. "Alright...now how do we get to Egypt?"

"I can answer that," said Lara 1.1. "We get there the same way I got here...I've got a seaplane waiting at the airstrip. We can take that all the way to the Nile river...the base is hidden in Lake Victoria."

"Then let's get a wiggle on..."

"Wait." Lara went to a nightstand and pulled something out of the drawer, strapping it to her wrist.

"What's that?"

"Something David gave to me." Lara smiled at the memory. "Now let's go get him back."

Hours later, the airborne seaplane carried two conscious passengers and two sleeping ones.

Mark was resting in the back, the closest he came to actual sleep. Seated only a few rows up was the sleeping form of Mace Daniels, feet propped up on the seat in front of her and snoring gently. Lara Croft was up front, checking the course on the map while the autopilot kept them high and concealed by the cloud deck. Thanks to the sophisticated radar and avionics, she wasn't too worried about running into any unseen objects, and the dense clouds, while making the trip a bit bumpy, did plenty to conceal them from the radar scopes of the land-based.

Lara turned at a noise and saw Lara 1.1 climbing into the cockpit. "How's our fuel?"

"We should have plenty to get there...it'll be leaving that's the trick. I don't dare refuel; it may take more time than we can afford. Sleep well?"

"Certainly." Lara 1.1 sat down in the co-pilot's seat. "There are plenty of vehicles at the plant. We could borrow one for a while."

"You mean, steal one."

"You say to-MAE-to, I say to-MAH-to..."

Lara caught herself smiling. Despite all the trouble her clone had caused, Lara was starting to like Lara 1.1. "We're very much alike, aren't we?"

"Afraid so. Comes with having your gene code and memories. But there's something different, all right. I found myself looking into the Abyss a great deal, working with Natla.I fear some of it has rubbed off on me." Lara 1.1 looked at her "sister." "Penny for your thoughts."

"Oh, I don't know...I couldn't let my thoughts go for such a pittance. Say a few pounds."

"You're wondering about me and David, aren't you? YOUR David. Mine is something of a moron, by the way. Afraid that I might have designs on him?"

Lara sobered. "That thought had crossed my mind."

"I don't blame you. He's certainly a catch." Lara 1.1 noticed Lara's look. "Don't worry, Lara. As enchanting as David is, he does have this regrettably annoying psychological quirk."

"Really? And what is that?"

Lara 1.1 sighed. "He's in love with YOU."

"He is...?" Lara said in a low breath. It was one thing to feel it, but another thing entirely to hear it from someone else.

"Oh, yes. I know for a rock-solid fact that if I suggested the idea of throwing you over for me, he'd probably throw me...off a building!" Lara 1.1sat back in the seat. "Too bad Natla can't clone him correctly."

"I thought Jacqueline Natla was some sort of genetic genius. Surely David's genes could be copied as mine were."

"Not quite." Lara 1.1 explained the troubles Natla had been having with reproducing David. "The idiot that called you might sound like David and look like David...but he acts like a little child."

"That's not too different from how David acts sometimes," Lara chuckled.

"Think of it as a constant state. Nursery rhymes fascinate David's clone."

Lara frowned. "I think I see what you mean."

"Do yourself a favor, Lara...as soon as you and David are clear of Natla's plant, MARRY that American bloke."

"MARRIAGE??" Lara looked as if her clone had blithely suggested electroshock therapy. "I hardly know David _that_ well...well enough to marry him!"

"What do you know about him?"

"He's rude, arrogant, reckless, far too bold and extremely prone to getting himself into trouble..."

"Gosh, you're right...you certainly wouldn't want to stay associated with anyone like _that_," Lara 1.1 said sardonically.

"You're absolutely..." Lara stopped. "Has anyone ever told you...?"

"All the time. Now stop wavering and go on. What else do you know about him?" Lara 1.1 prodded.

"He's...well, he's kind, generous, a bit overprotective, smart, funny.Dave can always get me to laugh, no matter how bad my day is. He's creative, a wonderful listener..." Lara stopped when she realized that she was crying. "I'm sorry."

"No, no...don't be." Lara 1.1 put a gentle hand on Lara's hand. "And you don't want to marry a man like that?"

"It's just that..." Lara stopped. "I think I've said too much already."

"Then let me continue from what I remember. You're not willing to establish a solid commitment like that again because of what you went through with Michael. Am I close?"

"Too deuced close..." Lara wiped her eyes. "What am I to do?"

"Well, I'm hardly one to talk, anyway. I was born from a test tube, using genes that didn't belong to me. I'm hardly an expert on humanity. But I can tell you this...from what memories I borrowed from you, I can only say that the only thing you can do is, when all this insanity is over, tell him what you feel. I just hope you get what you really want, Lara. I know I'm not going to be around when it does happen, and if we both have our preferences, we won't ever see each other again."

"What about you? What will you do?"

"Well, no offense, Lara, but the first thing I'm going to do is get a breast reduction." Lara 1.1 grinned. "THAT'LL make certain no one mistakes me for you. How can you go through life with those, knowing what reactions other men have when they see you?"

"I only care what ONE man likes. The rest can go to Hades. Besides, I refused to change myself to suit others a long time ago. You should know that."

"I should...except my memories, or should I say, YOUR memories, are not particularly complete. I can remember very significant events in your life, but I can't remember particulars. For instance, I know you have a father whom you love very much, but I cannot bring his face to mind. I know you went down over the Himalayas, but I can't remember how you survived." _And the worst part is, I seem to be forgetting things with alarming frequency lately,_ Lara 1.1 finished mentally.

"Don't worry about it. Soon, you'll have a life and a name of your own." Lara turned her attention back to the map. "I don't suppose you've already picked out another name, have you?"

"Yes, I have. Laura Jones." Lara 1.1 smiled. "Sounds nice and plain, doesn't it?"

"Well, ladies..."

They both turned to see Mark walking up from the fuselage. "Girl talk?"

"Of a sort," Lara 1.1 said with a smile. "What's on your mind?"

"Not much, just working on hedging my bets." He pulled out a small radio and fiddled with it. The front opened to reveal a small dial and a needle.He adjusted the dial, then said, "Tell me, Lara 1.1, what do you think Natla will be doing right now?"

Lara 1.1 frowned, then said, "Knowing her, she'll be drawing her wagons into a circle. If she knew we were coming, she'd be fortifying her defenses even further. Too bad for her that I followed quite closely in her footsteps and faked my own demise as well. As far as she knows, the helicopter I was in went down over the Atlantic. However, that might be enough to trigger her paranoia to the point where she'd start beefing up security."

The original Lara was close enough to see the needle come alive as Mark adjusted it. "What are you doing, Mr. Donovan?"

"Just swinging for the fences."

"Pardon?" Lara 1.1 asked. The needle banged again.

Mark reached for the flight log and started writing. "You know, I've always wondered what particular gene was responsible for that truly prodigious cleavage. I know a few girls who would pay money for that level of enhancement."

Lara felt the edge of anger come up. "You know, Mr. Donovan, for someone who talks very little, you tend to say very many life-threatening things..." she said warningly.

Mark held up the flight log for both Laras to see.

LARA JONES IS WIRED FOR SOUND.

The words stunned the two women into silence. Mark said immediately, "Well, I'm a little abrasive from time to time. You should have asked my wife, she was used to me getting under people's skin." He closed the radio with a quiet snap, and immediately continued, "Anyway, we should be getting on with the game plan. I would like to know what you can tell me about this place."

As he spoke, he was still writing. ACT NATURAL, BUT GIVE A DECOY PLAN. MAKE IT GOOD, OR WE'RE HOSED.

Mace and Mark pulled out the last of the bags and dumped them into the back of the truck. "Alright, clone...where to now?" Mace asked.

"We go further upriver another three miles. The early warning systems will be up, but we should be able to get very close before we're detected. The closer we get, the easier it'll be."

"And then?" Mace asked, putting a bag with weapons she favored close to her seat on the truck.

"And then we strike at the weakest point." Lara 1.1 pointed to a spot on the map where the word, "DECOY" was written. "This building at the edge of the river here acts as one of the secondary ventilation intakes for the underground base. There aren't many guards here and the location is extremely remote, so entering through here won't be expected at all. We turn off the fans and go in through one of the main pipes. A thirty-minute crawl later, we're inside. From that point on, we'll follow this map through to the lower levels." Lara 1.1 rustled one side of the map for effect. "Without it, we'd be lost for a week in the maze of vents that crisscross the base."

"And then?" Lara asked.

"Then we go down to the detention levels and get David out. From that point on, Natla will know we're here, so it's going to get pretty nervy for a fair bit. Make sure you pace your weapons fire until you get up to Sub-Level Eight. The Armory is up there and we can reload. Now, let's get the boat out and load up. There will be sensors set up along the river, so as soon as we get aboard and moving, no spoken words until we get inside the shaft." Lara 1.1 went to a metal canister, about the size of a large soup can, bobbing in the water and brought out the chunk of flesh that held the tracer Mark had found.

That afternoon, they had landed near Lake Victoria and Lara 1.1 had opted for a little impromptu surgery, literally carving the tracer out of her leg, where it had been attached to her left femur. With Mark's help, they had removed it and encased it inside a large chunk of beef bought from a butcher in Cairo. Lara 1.1 put the chunk of meat inside the canister, closing it and sealing it shut with just enough air inside to keep it afloat, then letting it float away. They watched it float downriver, nearly undetectable from several yards away.

Mace started putting the bags back in the trunk. "Plan B?"

Lara and the others nodded. "Plan B."

Mark and Mace were the ones who found the underwater entryway first, signaling the others as they bordered a large hole in the side of the river. Lara 1.1 had been accurate in the location of the dumping chute used for disposing of overheated water from the plant's water filtration system.The group, clad in SCUBA gear and hauling wet bags, made their way through the pipe, surfacing a hundred yards away in a sewer.

Lara pulled her mask off. "Everyone alright?"

"Yeah..." Mark looked around. "What is this place?"

"Underground sewage system. Gets rid of all the water used in bathrooms and such."

"A giant septic tank? Why doesn't it smell?"

"Jacqueline Natla may be cruel and evil, but still has some respect for the environment. She doesn't want to destroy all life...just re-make it in her image. For that, she needs clean water. Further up those pipes is a filtration system that removes impurities and radiation from the water she uses in the reactor as well as normal toilets and sinks."

"I thought you couldn't get rid of radioactive material," Mace said skeptically.

"Natla used to live in Atlantis.They long ago invented a means of transmuting harmful radiation and radioactive material into a base energy source, rendering the material completely inert. Quite brilliant, actually."

"It's starting to sound like you admire Natla again, Lara Jones," Mark said flatly.

"Not what she does, Mr. Donovan. What she is. For all her evil, her knowledge and intellect can do good things as well. She is intelligent and resourceful, Mr. Donovan. Disrespect that at your peril." Lara 1.1 looked up. "We have to find Valve #25. That'll shut off the flow of water between where we are and where we need to go. Come on, everyone, get a wiggle on."

"What about that?" Lara asked, pointing a door marked, "EXIT."

"Those hallways are covered with cameras and motion sensors. That road leads to the grave." Lara 1.1 calmly removed her wetsuit and opened up the bag she had carried with her, dressing and arming herself. When she was done, she was dressed in the blue bodysuit, shorts, boots and holsters that made her namesake famous. "How do I look?" she asked when she was done.

"Truthfully?" Lara asked as she dressed in her own outfit.

"Of course."

"I am utterly beside myself."

Mark looked at the two of them. "How can you two joke at a time like this?"

Both Laras looked at him and said in unison, "How can you NOT?"

Mace snarled. "I hate to interrupt this attempt at stereo stand-up, BUT THE REASON WE'RE HERE IS..."

"Right. Come on, let's go."

They spread out, looking for the valve among the maze of pipes that lined the walls and crisscrossed the room.

Jacqueline Natla wheeled to the console at the sound of the phone ringing.

"Yes?"

"Mistress, Valve #25 has been manually shut off."

Natla smiled. _So...they figured out Lara 1.1 was bugged after all. They don't disappoint._ "Activate Alert Status Yellow, Silent Alarm. Have three technicians bring our recent toy up to Room 426. I will meet you there.Have the low-level biologicals released. Send all non-essential personnel to their quarters. Make sure that our guests are properly re-located."

"Now I know how a TV dinner feels..." Mace groused.

"Are we there yet?" Mark said sarcastically. Normally he wasn't claustrophobic, but memories of his last visit to an Atlantic Company plant kept coming to mind. _That, and the ALIEN movies._

"We're almost there. Just around this turn is an opening. A hundred yards past that, and we're through." Lara 1.1 said just before the section of pipe ahead of her was sealed off by a plate of steel. She turned to see other plates sliding down in front of the others. She spun her head forward again to see a street sign painted on the plate in front of her, as well as the others.

The sign said, "WRONG WAY."

Then the bottoms fell away and they all slid down into separate Plexiglas chutes, watching each other drop away into separate areas of the floors below them. They lost sight of each other three floors down.

Jacqueline Natla, to coin a phrase, had apparently gotten the drop on each of them.

But not quite.

Mark Donovan, ever the paranoid sort, wasn't content simply to try and slow his descent. He hauled out the grenade launcher and fired downwards, watching the projectile zip below and make contact with a turn in the pipe.The impact detonated the grenade, shattering the tube. Mark then leaned his back against the inside of the tube, shoved his feet against the other side in a sharp angle, and prayed.

The jolt nearly sprained both of Mark's ankles, but his descent slowed sharply and Mark shoved harder. The friction caused him to slow to a stop just above the jagged edge of the tube with a screech of tortured rubber.

Mark dared to open his eyes and look down. He grinned. "'Always the hard way,' you always said, CM. Ain't it the gospel truth. Alright, Natla, I'm through playing this game by your rules. THIS game is going into extra innings..."

Lara 1.1 slid down the chute, cursing herself for underestimating Natla as she landed on a thick pad of cotton in a large room surrounded by barred doors. Each cell held a large, malevolent-looking beast straight from Natla's labs...and they looked hungry. As she drew her guns, she heard Natla's voice over the intercom speaker near the main door out of this room. "Hello, my darling little turncoat. I had a feeling this would happen.Actually, I knew it would. Sorry to spoil your little plans, but I have much better things to do than deal with sub-human traitors. But don't worry...as you can see, I left you some playmates. Enjoy yourself...and remember, your friends are likely having the same kind of fun."

"Bloody hell..." Lara 1.1 thumbed the safeties off the Uzis she held as the doors slowly opened. "This is not tuning out QUITE the way I'd hoped..."

Mace fell into a pool of water, making a tremendous splash and disorienting her for a few seconds. She recovered just in time to see what kind of room she was now occupying; a large circular tank approximately eighty feet wide, with a ladder at the far end. Mace found herself waist deep in dark, murky water and hearing the sound of metal sliding against metal.

Then she saw them...the creatures that were now entering the tank via the gates on the left and right looked like a sadistic cross between a great white shark and a crocodile. Mace took one look at the five creatures swimming leisurely towards her and something changed within her.

All the time she'd been working with Mark on this endeavor, she'd been feeling out of her league, almost like a fifth wheel, with Mark doing all the work. Now, she was on her own and faced with five of the meanest creatures ever to come out of a test tube.

Something snapped within her mind...or, more appropriately, something clicked into place.

Mace's look of fear withered and died under the heat of an expression of pure, cold hatred. She filled her palms with her weapons of choice, two H&K MP5 submachineguns. She clicked off the safeties, vowing never again to let herself be cowed or stopped by anything.

Natla had made the mistake of officially pissing Mace Daniels off.

"Alright, you overgrown suitcases...which one of you is first?" she growled, bringing the guns up to bear.

Lara fell into the worst of it.

She landed at the bottom of the chute onto the hard metal floor of a large cell. She got up, rubbing her butt. "I swear, another fall like that and I'll be crippled..." She stopped as she saw the other occupant of the cell.

It was David Connors.

Lara ran over to the prone man lying on the floor and turned his head, shaking him. "David! David, wake up!" she yelled, feeling frantic at the sight of seeing him again. "Don't you dare die on me, you bastard!You...!!"

Lara stopped. David had opened his eyes, but there was something deep within them that made Lara want to draw her guns. David sat up and looked at her. "Lara?" he asked.

"Yes, David..." she said warily, backing up a few steps.

Then David smiled. A nasty, feral smile that reminded Lara of where she was...and what she knew about Jacqueline Natla. "Pretty..." David said, a thin line of drool dropping from his lips and Lara whipped out her pistols.

"Steady on, whatever you are..." Lara pleaded silently to God that this was just a clone of David, not the real article. "Don't make me hurt you."

"Come here, Lara..." David stood up and began walking towards her...and as he did, the body underneath the clothes he wore began to change, bulges ripping through the T-shirt and jeans to show eyes and fanged mouths showing up all over his body. The limbs melted into pseudopods and the torso bubbled into a glistening, amorphous mass of multiform eyes and hungry mouths...all except for the head. Natla had, with her own sense of humor invested in her creations, left the head completely unaltered."Coommme heeerrree....Laraaa....!"

"Sorry, 'David,' but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to call this whole relationship off. You're just not the man I once knew," she quipped, steeling herself to do what she had to do.

Natla watched it all with growing glee as she prepared herself mentally for the OMA implantation. _The destruction of Lara Croft and her friends plus the ability to walk unimpaired once again...ahh, life is sweet indeed._

Her train-of-thought stopped as she realized that one room, the room containing her mutant arachnids, only contained mutant arachnids. In short, Mark Donovan had yet to make an appearance. _He should've been cocooned by now!_ "Where is Mark Donovan!?" she bellowed.

One of her servants scanned the area and gulped. "Mark Donovan is not visible anywhere in the complex."

"That's impossible!" Natla turned on her link to the main security system and viewed the cameras herself. Mark was nowhere to be seen. "Find him!" She wheeled herself to the main lab quickly. _I may need to implant the OMA sooner than I expected..._ "Take him alive if you can, but if not, kill him!I will not allow anyone to stop me now!!"

Mark dragged himself back through the pipe, then pulled himself out into the valve control area. As he got out, he noticed quiet alarms and flashing red lights. "All right...let's see."

He examined the screens around him, finally finding what all the fuss was about.

BIOLOGIC RELEASE ACTIVE.

ALL PERSONNEL ARE REQUIRED TO MOVE TO NON-PATROL AREAS.

Mark sat down, hard.

Their cover was blown. Mace and the two Laras were in deep kimchi now, and he had no clue how to help them.

Get it together, Donovan, you're not dead yet.

Mark nodded. "Okay...where's the main security network placed?"

Mace shrieked in rage as she opened fire as the first monstrosity opened its mouth to swallow her whole. The bullets ripped into the soft tissue of the croco-shark's mouth, causing it to go into fits of pain, thrashing around in the water. She could not see it, but she could feel the chaotic waves of water that churned the surface.

She started swimming along the edge of the pool, using as little motion as possible. The thrashing croco-shark had attracted the attention of its brethren, the smell of blood in the water inciting them into a killing frenzy. The unwounded attacked the wounded, tearing into the hard skin, biting at each other to push them away and wounding them as well, causing a feeding frenzy that overcame imprinted instincts.

Mace dove into one of the open tunnels, following it back to its source, a deep feeding pen. She could hear people shouting as she pulled herself out, but she had no intention of hiding.She stood up, spotted the lab technicians pulling out sidearms as they rushed towards her, and brought up the MP5s. And as David would put it, she had that I'm-Going-To-Shoot-Everyone-I-See look in her eyes.She mowed them down, spraying suppressive fire in a wide arc. Only a few were able to dodge the initial assault, but Mace then moved forward, shooting quick bursts at every movement she could see.

When she came upon a bleeding tech with more colors on his badge than the others, she smiled and said, "Where is Natla?"

"I don't know," the tech spat at her.

Mace turned and spotted one of the croco-sharks, apparently the sole survivor. She smiled an evil smile as she thought, _He still looks hungry..._

Lara 1.1 ejected the clips from her guns and popped in fresh, full clips.She looked out from inside one of the cells where the body of one of Natla's creations was conveniently blocking the cell door from closing. Her back was up against the rear wall of the cell and a mad grin was on her face even as the blood dripped from her cheek, legs and left arm. The head of a gigantic trapdoor spider peeked through and Lara 1.1 eagerly blew the head off with a impact-fuse grenade.

Two down, five to go... she thought calmly. She hunched down, readying herself for a moment, then bolted out of the cell and took aim at the nearest monster, holding down the triggers until her wrists throbbed with the effort of controlling recoil. One took the barrage full in the horned cranium, dropping to the ground with an audible CRUNCH as its carapace hit the metal floor. The other huge insects rushed over their fallen comrade, only to find themselves on the business ends of Lara 1.1's rabid submachineguns. She continued running around them, weaving between the bodies as they fell, stopping only when the last one fell to a lifeless heap at her feet.

Lara's smile was etched on her face, apparently incapable of any other emotion. She looked down towards the end of the room and saw an access door in the far end. She fired the last three bullets into the mound of insectoids, then removed the clips and put in fresh ones.

She ran to the door, opened it, and came out firing at the humanoid panthers rushing towards her.

Lara 1.1 thought, _Surely Heaven couldn't be better than THIS...._

Lara ducked behind a corner of the hallway and stopped, her breath coming in hoarse rasps of air. Behind her, she could hear the shuffling of the David-thing following her, calling out her name in a parody of romantic intentions. _And the worst part is...I can't seem to cause that THING any damage! It's like trying to shoot Jell-O! _She put away her guns and withdrew a claymore mine, running a trigger line along the floor and aiming the blast direction back the way she'd come.

She looked up and it was fifteen feet away.

The David-thing was now little more than a mound of flesh, teeth and claws, the unblemished copy of David's true face sitting on the front like a hellish hood ornament. Its eyes focused on Lara and it smiled. "Wannnnnttt kkiiidddssss, LLLLLaaaaarrrraaaaa.....?"

"No thanks, I only mate with HUMANS," she said shortly, barely containing her fear as she removed the pin from the mine and bolted around the corner.She stopped thirty feet away and turned to see the mass blunder through the wire. A loud CRUMP!!!! filled the hallway and Lara looked through the smoke to see how much damage she'd caused.

The shuffling continued and the David-thing moved out of the smoke.

Unharmed.

Lara took off down the hallway, her mind racing. "When the bloody hell are you going to DIE??!" she yelled behind her. She followed the creature through several twists and turns until she came to an elevator door. "Thank heaven," she said, punching the elevator call button.

She looked up at the floor indicator. It started at "one" and ended at "eighty-seven," the "one" currently lit. Then the "two" lit, then "three," then on and on as the car descended.

Lara heard the sounds of the David thing getting closer and mused how she'd give ready money to know what floor she was on at that moment.

Mark Donovan slipped through the door marked EXIT, and looked around.

He spotted the first camera moving back towards the door, and sent a magnetic pulse at it with the EMP emitter he had brought with him. The pulse caused the emitter to 'pause,' a feedback image of the hallway repeating over and over for the next 15 seconds before becoming fully operational again. The emitter was a gift from an old friend, a former case officer. Mark wished that he was still alive to see his work in action.

He slipped past the paused camera, then looked around the corner.

He reasoned that if any motion sensors were working in these halls, they were probably deactivated. _If the Biologics were running around loose, then it wouldn't be much of a point to track the movements of their animals..._

Then a door opened up ahead of him, and three 'Raptors stepped out, spotting him in moments.

Mark didn't stop to wonder how he had been spotted, he simply raised the MM-1 grenade launcher and fired, diving to the floor and lay flat. The grenade exploded in the center of the trio, the anti-personnel grenade shearing the beasts apart from the waist up. The truncated legs swayed, then dropped.

Mark ran forward, ignoring the blood, having spilled far too much in his lifetime to be bothered by the display of gore.

It took him four minutes, but he found what he was looking for—a tiny implant, buried in the haunch of one leg. It was still broadcasting some signal, that was apparent, and it ran on the trickle of background current in the animal's nervous system.

Natla didn't miss a trick. She kept the sensors on, but the implant gave a signal that identified it as a biologic. If the sensors 'heard' movement, but without a biologic implant...

"Sorry, Lara. I'll listen closely from now on." He slipped into the holding area where the 'Raptors came from. It turned out to be empty, and he slipped out again, standing in the center of the hall.

He dropped the grenade launcher in its sling, pulling out another heavy piece of hardware. It was his current favorite, a special kind of shotgun—a fully-automatic one.

It held a boxy clip of 15 shells, and could fire a burst of three shells at a time.

Mark examined a floor map on the wall, and started heading forward, keeping the EMP emitter handy for the cameras.

Mace Daniels stepped into the hallway, her eyes murderous. Watching the tech get eaten did nothing for her mood, but the information he gave kept her moving. The main hall was in this direction, but the tech had mentioned the biologics that were roaming the halls.

She didn't mind. She would simply overlay Natla's face on each creature and send it to hell.

She yanked back the bolt on the gun as she heard the skittering of claws on concrete, and smiled a ghastly smile."Come get some, right here," she whispered, as the first of many corpses-to-be bounded around a corner and ran straight for her.

Mark paused, then checked the floor map near him. The main laboratory was only a few meters away, to the right. He dropped the empty clip in his pack, grabbing the fourth one and slapping it in. Hunting season was open, and he had bagged many creatures on his way here. He knew he was going to be seeing some of them in the weeks to come, crawling out of the darkness in his dreams.

"All right...let's see what is so important in here."

He slipped inside, closing the door behind him, and turning around...

...and stopped.

Around him, in a four-foot square around the doorway, was a dotted line separating him from the main floor of the enormous laboratory.

Large pods were arranged in four lines, running the length of the room.

Each of them held Lara Croft. Clones, of course, but there were so MANY of them...hundreds of naked Crofts, as far as the eye could see.

Mark was aware his mouth had dropped open, and not for the fact that Lara's prodigious cleavage was natural, after all. The sheer size of the lab was mind-boggling.

Then he heard the whine of servomotors, and turned to see three automatons moving towards him. The caretakers, Mark surmised, then stepped back, his eyes widening as each robot extended three needles in his direction.

Mark yanked up the MM-1 grenade launcher and fired three times, diving behind a nearby console as the explosions echoed through the lab, shattering four of the pods and turning what they held into ground hamburger.

Mark poked his head out, smiled as he saw the broken wrecks, and the smile froze on his face as he spotted a message coming up on the computer console.

* +Emergency Resuscitation+-

* +REVIVE ALL CLONES+-

"Ah, hell..." he whispered, as the first of hundreds opened her eyes.

He looked down at the console. "There's got to be a way to..."

Then he saw it.

An overlay of the clone structure came up, with a series of commands being uploaded to what looked like some kind of control device.

"Eliminate intruder..." came a low moan from the pods. A communal whisper.

_Damn! I'm going to be chased down by hundreds of naked women, and I'm not going to enjoy it one bit...!_ Mark tried typing in commands, trying to shut down the process. He heard a hand grab the ladder leading up to the console area, and frantically tried to stop the computer.

"Eliminate intruder," came a voice directly in front of him, a strangely familiar voice.

Mark looked up and shot Lara Croft right between the eyes. As the body dropped like a dirty shirt, he raised the grenade launcher and fired six grenades, spaced evenly, into the main laboratory floor. They detonated, the flechettes ripping into the pods and killing everything around them.

Most of the clones died in the initial strike. Those that escaped the blasts were cut down as Mark moved forward, blasting everything that moved.He emptied two clips of shotgun shells killing the few survivors that remained.

As Mark walked back up to the console, his pants stained with dark blood, he noticed a message.

-+Is Intruder Dead?+-

Mark typed in YES.

+LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE.+ came the reply, and that's when the screen cleared, another message flashing on the screen: +EMERGENCY STERILIZATION IN PROGRESS.+

Mark turned to see ports opening all over the ceiling and fluted pipes protruding from the metal.

Pipes with pilot lights.

Lara 1.1 was beginning to worry.

The panthers were long since dead, and so were a horde of other misshapen creatures, but she didn't know where to go next and she was running dangerously low on ammunition. Plus, she was bleeding in several places, mostly shallow gashes, but one or two of them were coated with a green froth and were beginning to fester. Lara 1.1 sat down to rest for a few seconds, ignoring the pain of her wounds and considering what to do next.The initial enjoyment was wearing off and now Lara 1.1 was starting experience fear, for herself and the others. Not knowing what was going on with Mace, Mark and Lara was intolerable and she couldn't help but wonder if coming here was a grave mistake.

Then she heard a voice reverberate through the hallway she occupied. "LARA 1.1, YOU HAVE BEEN A VERY BAD LITTLE GIRL."

Lara 1.1 looked up and snarled, "You lied to me!"

"OF COURSE I LIED TO YOU, LARA 1.1. YOU WOULDN'T HAVE DONE WHAT I TOLD YOU IF YOU KNEW THAT YOU WEREN'T THE REAL LARA."

"You used me!"

"OF COURSE I USED YOU...YOU WERE USEFUL. EVERYONE IS USEFUL TO ME, IN SOME SHAPE OR FORM. BUT DON'T FRET, DEAR LITTLE CLONE. IF YOU'RE WORRYING ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS, YOU'LL SEE THEM AGAIN SOON ENOUGH."

"Why don't you...!"

"COMMAND CODE ALPHA ONE, LARA 1.1, GO TO SLEEP."

Lara 1.1 suddenly felt her mind swim and a sudden rush of fatigue and exhaustion. Her eyelids felt heavier than battleships and she slumped to the ground before she could say what she wanted Jacqueline Natla to do. A second later, she was unconscious.

"TSK, TSK, CLONE. HOW EASILY YOU FORGOT THAT I MADE YOU WHAT YOU ARE...AND CAN EASILY UNMAKE YOU IF IT SUITS ME. BUT NOT YET...NOT YET." Natla reached out from the operating table where she lay and tapped a button. "Guards, you will find Lara 1.1 on Sub-Level B, Area 48. Take here to the Main Control Room at Area 89 and wait for further instructions." She lay back and looked down at herself.

Below her waist, bio-mechanical creatures were hard at work bonding a shapely pair of female human legs to her hips, knitting bone and tissue like adept seamstresses. Natla winced a little at the pain, but she was preparing for her greatest achievement in the space of an hour, and the last thing she wanted to do was feel drugged, so she made sure that the operation took place with only the most minimal of anesthetics and pain-killers.

Besides...in a strange, detached way, she didn't mind the pain...the sight of her creations manipulating her body fascinated her. Dead and useless tissues were eaten and digested, giving her creations the energy to refit her spinal cord to accept the grafts and coordinate the nervous system in the OMA, what Natla termed an Organic Mobility Assist. With it, she would be able to walk again.

And so much more.

Natla smiled. A few more minutes and she would be ready to remake the world the way it should be... progressive and constantly changing. The human race would be forced to adapt to their new world and the new predators, the weak dying to allow the survival of the strong. The environment itself would fight to preserve its own sanctity, growing and surviving at an incredible rate. Natla made a mental note to track the re-growth of the rainforests when her new plants would begin augmenting the natural growth.

"My new world...some God YOU are," she said to the ceiling. "It took you only seven days to create the world, but it will take me much less than that to RE-create it. You sat up there as the world was destroyed by greed and avarice, your creations driven to extinction. Well, Big Guy, it's my turn." She looked at a digital countdown clock over her head. "In fifty-two minutes, you're going to be fired, and I'M going to take over. So clean out your desk, pal...there's a new Supreme Being in the works. Too bad, and only a few days before your Son's birthday. Well, being unemployed, you've got more time to be with your son, don't you?"

She reached out and tapped another button, bringing her to the view of the hallway where the original Lara was waiting for the elevator to get to her before the David-thing could. Her enjoyment increased as Lara threw lead at the creature, watching it absorb the damage and relentlessly approach Lara Croft. Natla watched as the creature went right up to Lara and start to absorb her as well!

Down in the corridor, Lara fought the urge to retch as the David-thing moved into her and around her. Where it's skin touched her, she felt her nerves go numb and her muscles go slack. Lara's eyes widened as she saw the David-thing's face coming closer and closer to her own, and finally, her nerve broke and she screamed as the David-thing absorbed all of her into its mass, her mind going black as she saw the creature's mockery of a face before her. Inside her mind, she kept shrieking IT'S NOT DAVID IT'S NOT DAVID IT'S NOT IT'S NOT IT'S NOT!!!! staying on the ragged edge of hysteria. Only her strong will kept her from going crazy as she descended into blackness.

Natla's voice came over the intercom to that hallway. "TAKE HER TO THE MAIN CONTROL ROOM AND WAIT FOR ME," she said as she disengaged the locks on the elevator, allowing it to descend at last. "Now then...let's check on dear Mace Daniels." She pushed a button and Mace Daniels appeared. Something in her eyes made Natla think of an animal, raging through the corridor. She was finishing off a vicious-looking creature with a burst of gunfire. Natla examined the placement of the camera and found she was nearing the elevator 'her' David was taking Lara. She watched patiently, waiting to see what was going to happen.

Mace turned the corner in time to see the blob moving into the elevator.

She pulled back, checked her pistol, then turned to draw a bead on it.

She was a split-second from firing when she saw the unconscious form of Lara Croft's head and neck as the blob crammed itself through the elevator door.

She swore silently, out of fear and wonder. She didn't dare take a chance on shooting that thing, but she wasn't going to leave her alone.

The door closed and she ran to it, grabbing a fire axe as she did and swung, the hard tempered steel biting into the elevator door. Something shorted inside, and the doors opened with a grinding sound. She dropped the axe, then looked up to see the elevator cab rising.

Only one chance to make this...

She coiled into a crouch, then sprang upward, her fingers grasping for and gripping a strut below the cab. She swung up, slipping into a small platform under the cab, laying back, and exhaled loudly. "Safe."

"Not quite," Natla said with a smile. She touched the intercom, then said, "Flood the elevator shaft in Sector #7 with nitrous oxide and meet my creation at the elevator at Area 89. Remove the woman under the elevator and bring her to the Main Control Room."

Mark looked up and saw the blossoming heat of the flamethrowers. He turned towards the sealed door, saw no way out, then saw some of the broken pods with other flamethrower nozzles coming down into the pods themselves, torching the occupants still inside.

An idea came to him just as the flamethrowers over his head ignited.

Natla shut off the intercom, then checked her computer console. "Now, where was..."

Her voice trailed off as she spotted the red indicator in Lab #27. Her frown deepened as she read the bulletins.

Mark had found the Croft-clones...and had destroyed countless numbers of them already Natla read about how the tissue samples were destroyed as she triggered the failsafe after getting the phony reply to her question."Idiot...all my creations refer to me as 'Mistress'..." The creatures patted her soothingly as they sensed her endorphin levels rising. Natla calmed herself. _No mortal man or woman could live through that hellfire for more than a split second. Better to handle Mark Donovan this way...I can always re-grow more Lara-clones, given time, and I can be sure that HE will know what Hell feels like before he gets there._

She found relief in the slow dismantling of her former hip muscle, and decided to check on David.

She opened a window in the computer screen, and saw a display of David, still secured. Two loyal technicians were attending to his needs, one examining a clipboard while the other kept track of the machine monitoring his vital signs. "Prepare for visitors. I will be joining you, as well."

"Understood," one of the techs replied.

She wheeled herself out of the room and headed for the deepest level of her base.

Lara awoke slowly, swimming through a haze of cotton towards the light ahead, and finally broke through to consciousness.

What she saw made her wonder if it was worth the trip.

Before her sat a smug-looking Jacqueline Natla, seated in a motorized wheelchair in front of a vast computer console, over which was a literal wall of monitors. Each had a picture of either a large holding pen full of assorted biological monstrosities or canisters with the wicked-looking BIOHAZARD symbol stamped on the sides. At the bottom of the screen were the names of capitals and major ports around the world, more than eighty in all. Lara turned to the left to see Mace Daniels, snarling like a chained pit bull and held in place by two barely human powerhouses. To her right, Lara 1.1 stood there with a venomous look etched on her face as she strained at the chains attached to the floor and her wrists. Mark Donovan was nowhere to be seen.

"Welcome back, Lara...it's so nice to see you again without requiring the use of a computer screen," Natla said cordially. "Normally I'd stand up to greet you, but as you can see, having a pyramid dropped on you has a detrimental effect on your ability to run a marathon."

"Bark at the moon, Natla!" Lara snarled. "If I didn't feel like I'd been dipped in Novocaine..."

"Ah, but you do, don't you?" Natla wheeled a bit closer. "And I know for a fact that you'd try your level best to rip my lungs out. But then, you'd have to stand in line." She pressed a button on her chair and a metal door opened in the floor. A chair rose through the opening, revealing...

"DAVID!!!" Lara yelled as she saw the form of David Connors rising through the floor, police-issue striptape around his feet, legs, arms and hands. He was unconscious.

"Yes...the real McCoy, this time, as opposed to the gelatinous mass holding you prisoner. Since this IS going to be the last day of your lives, the least I should do is let you both see each other before you die." Natla wheeled over to David's limp form and extended a hand, a small rod within her grasp. A thin bolt of electricity hit David in the ear and he jerked awake, looking around him wildly, then focusing on Lara.

"LARA!!" he yelled in shock and relief, then saw the double chained to the floor. "Lara??"

"She's the one," Lara 1.1 said, nodding her head at the original. "I'm the copy."

"Where's Mark??" Mace demanded.

"Well, Mr. Donovan is now doing his impression of a charcoal briquette, so I don't think he'll be joining us," Natla quipped.

"You insidious, back-stabbing, take-it-in-the-rear-for-a-quick-thrill BITCH!!" Mace said acidly.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Mace." Lara said with equal acid.

Natla frowned. "I can't believe it. You've all LOST, and here you are, still making threats."

"We're not dead YET, 'Fatla'." Lara 1.1 spat.

"Now, is that any way to talk to your mother, Lara 1.1?" Natla grinned. "In any case, since you all went to the trouble of getting here, I suppose you're wondering about Project: Pandora." Jacqueline Natla wheeled to the console and withdrew a laser pointer, pointing it at the screens. "Inside each of the Atlantic Company's plants, all eighty-one of them, is a veritable mob of animals, plants and micro-organisms ready to be unleashed upon the world, stimulating human development by the use of forced survival. A new generation of man will rise and flourish, adapting to their new, more hostile environment, and I shall rise above it all as this new race's Mistress. The Earth shall be renewed as all modern devices, except my own, will be struck with a computer virus transmitted all over the world, attacking everything more complex than a toaster and destroying all of man's failed attempts to control his world through technology. Think about it...no more pollutants, no more destruction of the sanctity of the Earth. And you'll have to think about it, too, since you all won't live to see this new world of mine."

Natla tapped a command into the computer and it responded, "+Five minutes until Pandora's Box is opened.+"

"Now, to make sure that nothing can stop this plan from taking effect, the computers are encoded with Atlantean code, more sophisticated than the binary code used in normal computers. If anyone even manages to crack the code, which I doubt, any commands sent to the plants' computers will be ignored, since the commands will only be accepted at a single, five-second long moment in time. Perfect, wouldn't you say?" She wheeled a few inches closer to a large red button. "When this button flashes at the end of the countdown, you'll all see the end of the world as you know it. Terribly theatrical, I know, but I figure that the changing of an era in the world's history requires some pomp and fanfare, wouldn't you?"

"+Three minutes until Pandora's Box is opened.+" the computer droned mindlessly.

"And to top it all off, Lara Croft...you'll be here to see what you postponed more than a year ago. And you can't stop me now."

"And what do you plan to do with us after you hit that button?" David asked, a sudden display of interest showing in his face.

"You, Mace Daniels and Lara 1.1 get invited to dinner with one of my special pets. As for you, Lara Croft...I shall have the distinct pleasure of making more clones of you, and then disposing of them in any way I see fit. Or perhaps I'll make them slaves, fit only for my dirtiest, most wretched jobs. The possibilities, like my intellect, are endless. The original I'll keep around...but in one of my stasis chambers. I'll remove your ability to move permanently, but leave you completely aware as I implant a pain amplifier to the pain center of your brain. You'll never scream, but all I'll need to do..."

"+Two minutes until Pandora's Box is opened.+"

"...is look into your eyes to see the pain there. Oh, you'll live for a very long time, forever, if I can see to it...but then, Hell is always an eternal thing."

"You've picked the devil's own task upon yourself, Natla." Lara warned.

"We'll see how cocky you are when you feel as if open flame is applied to every nerve in your body. Console yourself with this, if you can.I offered a great deal of power to David, as my consort and right hand. He turned me down, if you can believe it. Choosing death rather than join me..." Natla shook her head. "Such stupidity astounds me."

"Not stupidity, Jacqueline Natla. Just good taste," David said snidely."Besides, you'd be no good in bed."

"Oh, really?" Natla smiled, then stood up and left her chair, walking forward, then pirouetting twice. "For my genius, David..."

"+One minute until Pandora's Box is opened.+"

"...nothing is impossible. NOTHING." Natla sighed. "Say your goodbyes now, kids...in one minute, you'll be utterly speechless."

Lara turned to David. "David..." she began, then stopped. Tears budded in her eyes.

"I know, Lara...I know. But don't lose hope. We're not quite dead yet."

"Easy for you to say," Mace said tiredly. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. Mace Daniels."

"David Connors. Normally I'd shake hands, but..." He chuckled.

"Such hopeful ideals. You must be quite entertaining at parties..." Natla looked up as the countdown passed forty seconds. She walked back to the console, standing right next to the button and holding her palm over it."Well, folks. It's been a pleasure defeating you. It's a shame I'll never again find adversaries as formidable as yourselves."

00:00:30

"One thing, before you press that button, Natla," Lara 1.1 said quickly.

"What?"

00:00:27

"What happens if you DON'T press it in that five seconds?"

00:00:25

"Then the failsafes kick in. After all, if something happens and I can't get to the button, I'd rather not be caught breeding monsters and biohazards..."

00:00:19

"...so I made sure that I can't be implicated with little things like lawsuits and police." Natla shrugged. "Not that I'd need it, but I am a creature of habit. I like to be prepared for everything."

00:00:12

"I'd like to say something, too," David said, a strange intensity in his voice. "Hi, Mark."

00:00:09

Natla frowned. "'Hi, Mark'?? Why on earth would you say that?"

00:00:06

"Because he's right behind you."

Natla stared at David, then turned around and had just enough time to see Mark Donovan standing behind her, a grenade launcher grasped in his hands, his eyes hard and murderous.

The moment of hesitation at seeing him alive gave Mark plenty of time to swing the stock of the grenade launcher around, knocking Natla off her feet and carrying her away from the console. Natla's eyes went wide and she tumbled, landing hard on her hands and knees. She tried to get to her feet, but Mark was there, like an evil shadow, and swung again, the hard metal connecting with Natla's skull and dropping her to her knees again.

00:00:00

The console made a long, subdued +beeeeep+, and Natla looked up. The button was flashing.

She scrambled forward from her knees to her feet, but someone's leg got in her way when she got close to the console and she fell again. She tried once more to rise...

+00:00:04

"NOOO!!!" Natla shrieked as she reached out for the button, but it was three inches too far away. She stared at the clock as it hit

+00:00:05.

The computer screen flashed a new message:

PANDORA'S BOX SIGNAL NOT TRANSMITTED

NOW COMMENCING EMERGENCY STERILIZATION PROCEDURES

Natla pulled herself to her feet and slammed her palm down on the button, but the computer was beyond her control now. Each of the screens showed the creatures covered with superheated flame and the biohazard tanks emptying their contents into acid tanks. All over the world, Natla's creations were going up in smoke.

She turned around and a heavy-caliber pistol was shoved into her ear, an arm around her neck, and Mark's hot breath in her ear. "Surprise, surprise," Mark said quietly. "I'll bet you REALLY hate me right now."

"HOW...?!?!" asked Natla for the second time. "You were incinerated! I saw you!!"

"Not quite. I bet you saw the flames...but you didn't see me getting into one of the intact pods and shooting the pod's flamer with my pistol. I wondered at first why you'd put a flamethrower inside the pods, but it came to me...the pods were made fireproof as a safety measure to protect them from any unwanted outside heat. As soon as I disabled the flamer inside and closed the pod, I wasn't even warm. I should thank you for your architectural acumen."

"YOU...BASTARD!!!"

"Unh-unh-unh," Mark cautioned, pulling the hammer back. "I am sure you're very angry right now...but I can promise you, at this point, you are as close to death as you'll ever be."

"DAVID 1.1! KILL LARA!!!" Natla yelled.

Lara felt herself being drawn back into the creature. The David-thing smiled, licking its lips, then felt something placed on the back of his head. It turned its head to see David standing next to him, smiling."Buster, you're about to have a splitting headache."

The David-thing frowned, then lost its expression as the tiny shaped-charge sent an explosion right through the back of its head, staining David's shirt. Natla stared at the beheaded creature as it lost cohesion, melting to the floor and releasing its hold on Lara. She felt the sensation return to her body and she got up, far too angry to be disgusted.

The two creatures holding Mace, completely distracted by the sight of David getting out of his chair and smoothly beheading their comrade, gave Mace the break she needed. She hauled a hand out of the grasp of the creature on the left, using it to slam her palm into the bridge of the nose of the creature on the right, sending a spray of bones into the thing's brain. The other humanoid grasped her remaining wrist tightly with both hands, but all that did was give Mace enough leverage to promptly beat the hell out of the thing's face, ribs, stomach and groin with her free hand. Rapid-fire punches delivered with deadly accuracy left Mace free of her captors and the humanoids dead on the floor.

Natla was almost speechless. "But...but..."

"Oh, I didn't come here directly...I made a stop at David's little hidey-hole. After I cut his bonds, then re-attached them to look like they were still intact, I gave him a small charge set to go off a two-second delay, to get that Jell-O-head off Lara's case." He slid his gaze to David momentarily. "Nice job, pal...now I know why Lara hangs out with you."

"Thanks." David set to work on Lara's bonds.

Mark let Natla loose after whispering, "Don't try anything foolish.Remember that this gun can punch through your skull like a ripe cantaloupe."

She turned on him. "Who are you, Mark Donovan? WHAT are you?" she growled.

Mark grabbed her by the nape of her neck, pulling her close enough to kiss, his eyes boring into Natla's. What she saw there chilled her to the bone, the curses dying unsaid.

What she saw in those eyes was _ancient_. Natla knew, somehow, that what looked out from those dark eyes was much older than Mark's apparent age...maybe even as old as Time itself.

"I have friends who werewhen the best part of you was still staining your daddy's sheets. They've forgotten more than you've ever learned, HONEY. You thought you were God? Well, you're not the deity you think you are...you're not even in the ballpark." The smile he gave Natla removed the bravado in her face, replacing it with doubt...and a calmness he didn't like. "Now, sit right down there, with your hands under your legs. If you make trouble one more time, it'll be the last time you make trouble for anyone. I promise you that."

As Natla sat down, Mark said, "How are you doing, Mace?"

"Like hell...but I'll live." She was slowly getting her bearings back and rubbing her wrists. "Better off than THOSE two," she added, pointing to the bodies on the floor.

Mark nodded. "David?"

"Better than I've been in DAYS. I've had enough of life as a guest of Chez Natla." David finished removing the chains from Lara 1.1's wrists, then went over to Lara. "Still with me, sunshine?"

"Always..." Lara wiped her face, then realized that since her entire body was covered with the goop, it didn't help at all. "David...before anything else happens, I have to tell you something." Lara reached up and cupped David's face, ignoring the slight -squish- her hands made on his cheeks."David, I love you...and I am bloody tired..."

"No foolin'."

"Hush, David. I'm going to have my say before something else tries to kill me or I lose my nerve. David...I think now...I'm ready for something more serious than having you as just my partner...and my friend."

David reached up and took her shoulders, looking deep into her eyes.

"Lara...I..."

Mark shook his head, turned back to Natla and his jaw dropped. "DAMN!!!!!!" he yelled and the others jerked, startled, turning to look.

Natla was gone.

"THAT is the LAST FUCKING TIME I allow the people I work with to get romantic in the middle of an operation!!" Mark turned to the others. "We've gotta bolt, NOW!"

Mace swore and looked around. "We're going to have the whole base right on top of us in a few minutes!"

"Not unless Natla has a silent alarm." David looked around. "I've come to know Natla during my little visit here...she's far too dramatic to do anything like an alarm silently."

"Why not?" Lara 1.1 asked.

David looked around. "Because she's still around here somewhere. She's not escaping, and considering that she's outnumbered five to one, I think it's safe to say that Natla knows something we don't."

"Hell! These megalomaniacs are capable of anything!" Mark checked the grenade launcher. "Four shots left. About thirty shots left in my pistols.Lara...Jones?"

"Yes?"

"Did you see where they put your gear?"

"No...I was out like a light and I woke up unarmed. Lara?"

"The same. David?"

"I didn't see anything until Mark showed up and cut me loose."

"Shit." Mark looked around. "Alright, let's just get the hell out of here."

"It's much too late for that, Mr. Donovan." Mark turned to see Natla's face poking around the side of the console on the far end, smiling at them."Miss me?"

Mark raised the grenade launcher as the others tensed in alarm. "Not THIS time I won't..."

Then Natla came out from behind the console and Mark let the muzzle of the launcher lower as he saw what Natla had become.

From the waist up, she still looked the same, wearing her business suit, not a thread out of place...but from the waist down, she wore the body of an enormous black widow spider, twenty feet across, with large, spindly legs and a scarlet hourglass on her belly. A pair of curved stingers sprouted from just below her waist, dripping clear yellow fluid that ate into the floor where it touched the metal. She opened her arms wide. "What do you think? Increased speed, high resistance to damage...not even that toy you're carrying, Mr. Donovan, will hurt me now. Feel free to use it, if it makes you feel any better...but in the end, you will all DIE."

Mark looked up, and said six words.

"Come on, witch...Hell's always open."

Mace, David, Lara and Lara 1.1 bolted, running in all directions as Mark raised the grenade launcher. Natla went after him first, seeming to drip venom from her mouth as well as the stingers in her torso. Mark fired and Natla raised a foreleg, intercepting the grenade in mid-flight and detonating it. Natla's smile grew wider as Mark saw the damaged leg regenerate right before his eyes, but unlike Natla, Mark was not one given to standing still while experiencing shock. He ran to one side and dodged the other foreleg that threatened to impale him through the stomach, as if Natla was getting revenge for all the bugs ever pinned under glass for the sake of Science.

Mark's mind raced, coolly gauging Natla's reaction speed. Even under pressure, Mark thought like a machine when it came to combat; calm, alert and assessing his adversary. This time, however, an answer to THIS opponent was not forthcoming, so Mark's main priority was simply not getting hit.

Lara 1.1 had moved away, then ran for the door and kneeled down in front of it. It was a complex keypad, used for many doors in Natla's plants, but Lara 1.1's passcode wouldn't open the doors! She concentrated on other possible combinations, but none of them would work...

"LARA TWO, HEADS UP!!"

David's yell brought Lara 1.1's head up to see Natla bearing down on her with blinding speed for her size. Before she could jump away the front forelegs reached out for her, manifesting spindly, three-fingered hands that grasped Lara 1.1 firmly, pulling her towards the stingers. Mace saw the clone's predicament and launched into a powerful flying kick at Natla's bulging abdomen, hitting her squarely but availing nothing.

Natla's mouth opened in an orgasmic smile as one of the stinger's plunged into Lara 1.1's midsection, dispensing a heavy load of sulfurous venom into her. Lara 1.1's mouth opened wide as her tongue swelled between her jaws, blood gushing from her nose and ears. Natla opened her eyes again and screeched in triumph, throwing the clone's body behind her and looking around for another target. Her eyes found Mace and she started to move towards, then saw David out of the corner of her eye and turned to her right.

David took careful aim and hit Natla right in one of the stingers.

The hollowpoint round punched a wide hole in the stinger and continued on through to the poison sac just behind it, Causing Natla to wince, but only just. Poison gushed from the wound, covering the floor where she stood and beginning to slow eat away at the floor itself. "Nice try, David, but I took the precaution of making myself immune to the effects of my own poison. Like all my creations, my new form is much tougher than you think.But since you have caused me some pain, David..." Natla approached David and he sprinted away, but Natla was just a little faster and she began to close the distance.

Mark knelt over Lara 1.1, still convulsing. Despite the large amount of poison, the nature of the venom would not let Lara 1.1 die quickly or painlessly. "...Mar..." she gurgled, her eyes rolling in her skull."...eez...illl... meee..."

Shades of Mark's wife, Alixandra, appeared in his mind. "Not again..." he swore. "You don't get out of this that easily, Lara Jones!" He placed a hand over the wound and concentrated hard, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth. He could feel the toxin within her, could feel its very nature.A golden light surrounded him and the purple color drained away from Lara 1.1's face. Her tongue returned to its normal state as the poison went out of her body.

Mark opened his eyes and, for a moment, Lara 1.1 could see dual-pupilled eyes looking at her. Then mark turned to the side and threw up, yellowish fluid coming out of him in a torrent that splashed over the floor...the same yellow color as the venom.

Lara 1.1 sat up as Mark spit the last of the stuff from his mouth, wiping his face with his sleeve.Trickster, wherever you are, I owe you one, Mark thought, turning back to Lara 1.1. "Are you alright? Can you stand?"

"I...yes, I think so." Lara got up and looked around. "How did you do that?"

"Let's just say that Natla isn't the only one who's had contact with aliens. LONG story. Come on, we've got to help the others."

Lara 1.1 nodded and they both rounded the computer console to assess the situation.

David was still playing hopscotch with Natla, playing a bizarre game of tag. Natla would chase Lara, then Mace, then David, then Mace again, then Lara again. Natla was obviously enjoying herself, moving from person to person. Now that Mark wasn't involved in combat, he could see Natla's plan."She's toying with us...she knows that she can catch us at any time, and she's keeping everyone away from the main doors."

"Then what is she doing?" Lara 1.1 asked, then it came to her. "She's just trying to tire us out!"

"Yeah, and then she can dispose of us at her leisure. SHIT!"

"Can't you just heal everyone else the way you did me?"

"Nope. I can barely even consider trying again...that took a lot out of me.I don't know if I'll be able to survive another try."

David caught sight of them and waited until Natla was chasing Mace again, then ran over to where Mark and Lara 1.1 were hiding. He didn't attempt to ask how the clone survived. "Mark! Give me your other gun and start shooting everything you've got at the poison sacs!"

"Why?? She'll just heal up...!"

"No time to argue, just DO it!"

Mark tossed David the other gun and turned to Lara 1.1. "Try to get us a way out of here...I'll try to distract Natla long enough for you to get through."

"And what'll you do?"

"Hope David has a plan! Go!"

Mark ran out into the fray and took aim, Lara 1.1 moving back behind the console and searching wildly for another way out.

"Hey, bitch!!"

Natla turned at David's voice, that smile still on her lips. "Not now, insect. I'm busy."

"What would you say if I told you that you'd made a SERIOUS error in judgement?"

"Then I'd say you were a fool and a liar."

David hauled out the pistols Mark had given him and threw one to Lara, emptying the clip in three-round bursts at the poison sacs, causing punctures that spilled more of the yellow fluid all over the floor. Lara saw what David was doing and mimicked him, shooting at the same place.

Natla stood there and laughed, a high, mad laughter that chilled David to the core. "Go ahead, worms! Empty your weapons! It won't make one damn bit of good! I can easily regenerate the poison you try to spill, and the acidic nature of the venom will only make your ability to avoid me that much less! Face it...it's hopeless, and we both know it!"

"Mark!" Lara 1.1 called, and Mark turned to the source. It was difficult to see Lara 1.1 through the haze of the venom spills, but he could see what appeared to be a hole in the side of the wall. As soon as he saw the clone wave, he turned back to the people trying to dodge Natla.

"PEOPLE, WE ARE LEAVING!!!" he yelled, bolting for the opening.

David nodded, running towards the console. "Ladies, run for it!!"

"There's nowhere you can run from me!!" Natla yelled, turning towards the fleeing humans. One of them stopped just before reaching the side, waiting for the others. As Lara trailed the pack, she stopped as David waved to her.

"David, hadn't we better go?!"

"Nope. There's still the matter of HER," he said quickly, drawing out a Zippo lighter and handing it to her, then yelling to Natla, "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

Natla stopped reflexively, then looked down at David through the white haze. "And why should I?"

"Because if you didn't, you wouldn't appreciate me telling you where you screwed up!"

Natla thought, _What can they possibly do? They've exhausted their ammunition and the floor is nearly a pool of venom. _"Pray go on, Mr.Connors...you amuse me."

"With all the work you put into your creations, not to mention your new bod...I suppose you made it the same way you made your other creatures?"

"Of course. Why shouldn't I? I do my work perfectly. It will do you no good to stall, David, there's no escape."

"Oh, you're right about that...but I think you have your tactics wrong.You're standing in your own venom, aren't you? In fact, your entire lower body is soaked with it."

"So? The venom can't hurt me, I made it that way."

"In its current state, no...and that's where the flaw comes in. Lara, if you please, show Natla the light."

Lara Croft coughed at the vapors in the air, and suddenly understood. She raised the lighter. "Natla...oh, bugger it, I can't think of any witty lines...wait, hold it, I have one. Natla?"

"This grows tiresome, WHAT???" she asked, irritated.

"You're fired," she said, and lit the lighter, tossing it into the venom and running like crazy behind the console, David in hot pursuit.

And then things got considerably hotter.

The lighter touched off the venom and lit it like gasoline. David and Lara had surmised correctly; Natla had chosen to make the venom based upon a sulfuric acid...and sulfuric acid was FLAMMABLE.

As the fire exploded through the room, Natla realized that her creatures DID have a weakness after all. She had built it into them herself. She had made them vulnerable to open flames!

Then the inferno touched off her body and she felt her body catch fire. She had engineered her new torso to keep herself from feeling pain, but the REST of her body was just as vulnerable as the rest of her. She tried to race after them, but her legs folded like straws and she fell heavily to the floor, her upper body landing fully into a pool of burning, acidic venom.

Lara would've loved to see the final death of the woman who had plagued her for so long, but her sense of self-preservation was far too strong to allow her that luxury. She hustled herself through the duct, along with the others who were making a fast break themselves. David, in the rear, looked back as he saw the result of the exploding gases pushing through the vent opening and coming straight for them! "We've got a problem back here!"

"Don't worry!" Lara 1.1 called back. "Just keep moving!"

David's eyes went as wide as serving platters as he saw the cloud of fire coming right towards him...and then a steel plate slammed down a foot behind him, sealing off the vent. David saw the steel redden and some paint flake off, but the firestorm had been thwarted. He stopped, his breath hard and raspy. "You knew that would happen?"

"Fire retardation measure. Contains fire and keeps it from spreading to the other areas," Lara 1.1 said breathlessly. "It won't hold it off for too long, the anti-fire countermeasures weren't made for a fire this large, this deep...and it'll be greedy for oxygen and flammable materials. If it spreads through the other three vents to the labs, or the reactor..."

"Hiroshima?" Mace asked, oddly calm and composed.

"Very likely...only bigger. The reactor isn't a nuclear reactor, not the way you're thinking."

Mark stared at Lara 1.1 HARD. "Enlighten us."

"Picture an artificially-created yellow star the size of a basketball, contained in a field of intense gravity."

"And if it something goes wrong?"

"Worst-case scenario?"

"I think this qualifies, yes."

"Everything within a mile radius is subjected to a thirty-G tidal spike, which then creates a tidy cylindrical crater large enough to contain the explosion. Since this part of the plant is below the ocean floor, it'll cause an underwater volcano to erupt...and then Trinidad will likely lose their tourist trade until the year 2000, but the island will end up being much bigger as the lava cools. Fishing will be in the privy, though."

"Judas PRIEST!!" David swore. "I don't want to alarm anyone, but I think the plate behind me is melting! Could we possibly start moving again?!?"

They all came out into a corridor with red lights flashing and a loud klaxon going off to their right. They didn't see anyone else around as they exited they vent. David came out quickly. "Would you guys hurry it up, I think my ass is on fire!!"

As he got down, Lara looked at his rear. "Maybe a little singed, luv, but you'll be alright."

"Okay, so we killed the Bad Guy, excuse me, Bad Girl...NOW what? The whole place is on alert right now, and I didn't run into enough human guards to steal anything good. We're down to a few grenades. How do we get out of here?"

"Wait," Mark said quickly. "I think I know the way to go." He took off down the corridor. Mace followed after, with David and the two Laras bringing up the rear. As they ran, a mild modulated voice came over the public-address system: "+ALERT. ALERT. FIRE WARNING IN MAIN CONTROL ROOM. ALL SAFETY SYSTEMS COMPROMISED. REPORT TO ASSIGNED ESCAPE TUNNELS FOR IMMEDIATE EVACUATION.+"

"Escape tunnels..." Mark turned to Lara 1.1, who nodded. Both of them turned right and headed off down the hallway.

"Where are we going?" Lara Croft yelled.

"Natla's private chambers!" Mark yelled back.

"WHAT?!?"

"Trust me!!!"

There were four guards in front of the armored door, armed to the teeth.

They waited for Natla to arrive so they could arrange for her departure.

When a woman walked towards them, they made the sudden and erroneous assumption that it was Natla, which made things easier for Mace. Before they drew their guns, Mace drew Mark's grenade launcher and fired. The blast pushed her back ten feet and vaporized the door, turning the guards into a thick red mist.

Mark moved to Mace and assisted her to her feet. "Are you all right? You were supposed to fire from farther back!"

"Oh, don't worry...it felt much better."

"Well, Wyatt Earp, I hope you didn't frag up too much in there!" Mark yelled, then walked forward towards the half-open door.

The room within was spacious, ornate, and had no business in a biohazard facility. "David, check the rear of the room. Lara...and Lara...check the walls. Mace, guard the hallway, and use the grenade launcher if you have to. You have one shot left, though. I'll check the desk."

"What are we looking for?"

"Natla's back door. From what I've seen, she's got to have some sort of back door."

David nodded, and the team went to work on the room.

As Mark examined the drawers, he found various documents and papers he felt worthy of taking with him. A shudder in the walls and floor reminded him not to spend too much more time on the drawers. He found a small floor safe, and went to work on it.

"Found something!" Lara 1.1 called out, and David and the other Lara went to investigate. The three of them examined the wall next to the small three-dimensional display unit, opening it to find a small stairway leading down.

"I'll go check it out," David said, a hopeful tone in his voice.

"Not without ME, you're not," Lara Croft said immediately, then darted down the passage before David could say no. He followed, shaking his head. The stairway went down to a door built into the side of an enormous tube. "You know what this reminds me of, David?"

"What?"

"A torpedo tube." She opened the door and looked inside. "Bingo! It may be a bit cozy, but it's our way out alright! Tell the others to get down here as soon as they can!"

Mark continued to work on the safe, then heard a satisfying click as the tumblers fell into place. He opened the safe and found a small fortune in diamonds, star sapphires, oily-looking rubies, and a thick sheaf of papers.

"What is that?" Lara 1.1 asked.

"Natla's Run-Away stash. Untraceable stones, negotiable bearer bonds, stuff she could sell to free up funds she might need to start over." Mark grabbed a small suitcase stashed under the desk and started filling it.

"Why are you doing that? The place will blow any minute!"

"Because we might need it ourselves. Go and check with Mace, see how she's doing. Tell her to beat feet back in here in one minute, no more."

Lara 1.1 nodded, then walked to the hallway door and stepped out into the corridor.

Mark checked the safe one last time, and found a hidden stud. He pushed it and a section of the ceiling opened. A round cylinder, much like a periscope, lowered to eye level.

When it opened, Mark stared. Nestled within was a circular object, one Mark recognized even though he'd never seen it before. The Scion of Atlantis.

Mark didn't hesitate. In the space of a second, he grabbed the Scion and shoved it into the suitcase, snapping it closed as Lara 1.1 and Mace came in through the door.

Mace said, "We had better go, if we're going. I felt another explosion tremor."

Mark nodded, hefting the suitcase and said, "I've got everything. Let's go."

They moved down the staircase, leaving the room behind. They arrived at the door to find David and Lara Croft standing by the door. Lara waved them on."Up those stairs, into the seats at the top and STRAP IN. We're going to being going rather fast!"

"What is it?" Mace asked.

"Who cares, as long as it gets us out of here! Let's go, kids," Mark said cheerfully, then winced as an explosion frothed the water under the dock."We've worn out our welcome," he said in a lower voice.

No one argued. They all piled through the door and up the stairs. When Mark got there, he went to one of the chairs and looked at the instrumentation."What is this thing, a spaceship?"

"Not quite, but it's close," Lara said, climbing up front to the main control panel. "I recognized it from a report I saw from MI-6."

"When the hell were you at...? Oh, never mind," David said, strapping himself in. "I guess I can't be surprised..."

The entire frame shook with a mind-numbing CRRRAAAASSSSHHH!!! and Lara looked out through the windshield. "The whole cavern's caving in!!" She turned back to look, saw that everyone was inside, then hit the LAUNCH switch on the man panel.

The problem was, everyone WASN'T strapped in.

The torpedo leaped forward as if kicked by Zeus himself, screaming through the tube at high speed. Lara 1.1 flew to the rear of the cockpit and struck the metal HARD, knocked cold instantly. Mark barely hung on, in a seat but not strapped in. He tore his eyes away from the front and they caught a vidscreen on his right.

The screen showed a firestorm chasing them...and gaining on them!

"LARA...I HATE TO BE A NAG...BUT THERE'S A FIREBALL IN OUR LANE AND HE IS GOING TO TRY TO PASS US!" Mark yelled over the roar of the engines propelling them through the tunnel. "CAN'T YOU MAKE THIS THING GO ANY FASTER???"

"BACKSEAT DRIVER!!" Lara yelled back, looking forward at a bright blue spot just ahead. "BRACE YOURSELVES!!!" she yelled and wrestled the straps over her body, strapping herself in as they went through the opening into the open sea. The fireball met its match as it barreled into several thousand tons of seawater, the collision turning the fire into superheated steam. As the sea began to boil behind them, the huge torpedo began to slow and rise through the water to the open air. By the time the speed was little more than ten knots an hour, the capsule broke through the surface.

All woke up soon after the capsule had stopped moving faster than a speedy drift over the water. David woke first, shaking his head and regretting it."Lara...can anyone hear me...?"

"I can..." moaned Mark from the floor. "Sound off, everyone. Who's alive?"

"I am, but I'm not enjoying it..." Mace said, wincing.

"Same here...OUCH...!" Lara 1.1 said, holding her left arm. "I think my arm is broken."

"I think my whole BODY is broken..." Lara murmured. "No, it isn't...it just feels that way." She got up and looked around. "I do believe that we made it..."

"Now what? How do we leave this charming little area?" Mark asked Lara.

"Simple. Everyone get back to your seats...and yes, I'll wait until everyone is strapped in this time." She pulled back on a larger switch.

Outside, the large "torpedo" began to change. Panels popped off the top and sides of the large rounded cylinder, wings and fins pivoting out from the sides and locking into position. Two jet engines unfolded from the rear.Inside, the unwanted instrumentation measuring depth and pressure slid away, making room for instruments that measured airspeed and altitude.

In a few minutes, the torpedo had become a seaplane.

"Thank God for British ingenuity. Everyone ready?"

The passengers murmured agreement as Mace finished up putting a splint on Lara 1.1's arm. The plane took off and easily climbed into the air. Lara guided the plane into a wide turn so she could look down at where they'd come from.

The far eastern edge of Trinidad was turning into a mountain of cooling ash and lava. The hotels on that side of the island was being covered with ash, but from where Lara sat, the volcano's lava flow was moving away from the island, so it was unlikely anyone would be serious hurt or put in danger.But Lara felt even better knowing that Jacqueline Natla was, at long last, dead...for good this time.

"Where to now, Lara?" Mark asked.

Lara smiled wearily. "We're going home."

"Hallelujah. I should be able to get us some cash for these." Mark opened the suitcase, holding up a fistful of precious stones. "I know a few people I can sell these to purchase a few trips home. I'm headed back to New York, see if I can get some real rest, find a home for Natla's little toy..."

Both Laras looked to Mark, immediately alert. "What 'toy?'" they asked in unison.

"I pinched the Scion of Atlantis before we bugged out of there."

"May I see it?" Lara asked Mark.

"What for?" Mark asked suspiciously.

"This wretched piece of bric-a-brac has caused ENOUGH trouble, thank you." Lara reached out for the suitcase and Mark caught her wrist.

"Hold it a second, lady..." Mark warned. "You don't want to do that."

"Take your hand off my arm, Mr. Donovan...unless you have a fondness for prosthetics."

_Uh oh!_ David decided that now was not the time for a showdown. "Uh, guys, this isn't..."

"Dave, kindly shut up." Lara's eyes never left Mark's own. "Listen to me very carefully. Because of what this artifact can do, a great many people have died. It stops here and now, Mr. Donovan. What do YOU plan to do with it?"

"Keep anybody else from handling it ever again."

"I plan to do the same."

"I don't plan on destroying it. Believe me, where I'll put it, it'll be safe."

"I don't believe that's possible, Mr. Donovan."

"Um, Lara...maybe you'd better believe him," Lara 1.1 said carefully. "He's not exactly your average photographer."

"I don't care if he's Doctor Who fresh off the TARDIS from Gallifrey. The Scion of Atlantis is a menace and has to be eliminated for all time before someone else can use it. Now remove your hand, Mr. Donovan...or I'LL remove it."

Mark looked at Lara for a long time, then said calmly, "Lara Croft, you're going to have to trust me."

"I'm sorry, Mark Donovan...but I cannot."

Mark prepared to deliver a warning to Lara, but he was interrupted by a humming sound coming the suitcase. Both Lara and Mark looked at the case in surprise, then Mark opened it.

The Scion, lying on top of the other contents, was vibrating and glowing with an uneven, angry red. Several hundred thousand dollars' worth of bearer bonds had already burned into uselessness.

Lara looked back at Mark. "Well, Mark, you claim to be an expert on knowing what's best for the world and the Scion. Tell me...is the Scion supposed to be doing that?"

"Ah, hell...it must be destabilizing!! Now I know why Natla didn't keep it in her safe.That storage unit must've had a stasis field of some kind!" Mark grabbed the Scion, then dropped it as he realized just how HOT it was.

"SHIT!"

Lara 1.1 looked down at the Scion, then grabbed it, keeping her hand around it even as the smell of frying flesh filled the cockpit. She gritted her teeth and turned to Lara. "WHERE?" she hissed.

Lara Croft opened the back door and pointed to a square section of metal underneath a rack holding several cylinders. "There! Quickly!"

Ignoring the pain, Lara 1.1 threw the Scion. It skittered across the floor and stopped just inside the square. Lara Croft pulled a toggle switch in the cockpit and the square split open, dropping the Scion through the opening. The Scion of Atlantis fell a few hundred feet, the blew apart in a spectacular explosion of blue, green and orange fire, sending out a shockwave that rattled the seaplane like a rat in a terrier's mouth.Everything became rather confusing for a few minutes, but Lara held on tight to the controls and kept it in the air long enough for the shuddering and shaking to subside.

Lara Croft looked back to see Mace already bandaging Lara 1.1's hand and Mark rising from the floor of the plane. "It appears that the Almighty has taken that decision out of her hands, Mr. Donovan." Without waiting for Mark to comment, she turned her focus back to flying the plane. "NOW it's over," she said, relieved beyond words as she piloted the plane to the northwest, towards England and home.

EPILOGUE

"Finally..." David climbed down the ladder, stepped back and looked at the Christmas tree in the main room. That's the last one." He looked up at the fourteen-foot tall tree, laden with ornaments and filled underneath with all sorts of colorful boxes and gifts. He looked at the clock on the wall and whistled. "Only nine o'clock...not bad, Dave, not bad. Hey, Lara!!" he said, louder. "How are those cookies coming??"

Lara Croft, dressed in jeans, a T-shirt with the legend, "Kiss The Cook," and an apron, came out of the kitchen and waved to David with a oven-gloved hand. "They're already done and cooling, you slug-a-bed, what's taking YOU so long?" She smiled happily and David smiled in return, happy to see Lara relaxed and unhurried for the first time in days. After they had returned to England, Lara and David had spent the next few days, even Christmas Eve, wading through seas of last-minute shoppers for their own last-minute shopping. With luck, they were able to finish getting presents for the Croft family, as well as for some of their new friends, and had them shipped out on Emery™, to make sure that they made it to their destinations by Christmas Day.

David walked into the kitchen, sniffing the air and sighing in pleasure."Smells WONderful, Lara. I never knew you were such a great cook. The dinner was beyond great, the ham and turkey were well done indeed...between tomb raiding and doing lectures and such, how did you ever learn to be a good cook as well?"

"It's a talent, I guess." Lara decided to keep her semesters in the Oxford cooking courses a secret, for now.

"Well, it was great...and these sugar cookies smell delicious!" David reached out to grab one and Lara lightly smacked his hand with a wooden spoon. "OW!!! Hey, what was THAT for?"

"They still have to cool off, you scoundrel. You'll have to wait."

"Oh, really?" David pointed to a bare spot on one of the cookie sheets, a spot where only the faint print of a cookie was visible. "And what happened to THAT one?"

Lara tried her best to look innocent. "Mice?"

"Yeah, right. Come on, Lara, I'm a detective, after all. You don't really think I'd miss a clue like THAT, do you?"

"Very well, you may have ONE," Lara said impishly, maintaining an exaggerated posture of generosity.

David took one, and his eyes widened. "Ouch!" he cried, dropping the cookie back on the cookie sheet. "That's HOT!"

"Why, David, how did you ever figure that out? You should be a detective." Lara reached behind her and picked up a spatula with a cookie on it, putting it back in its place, giggling. "Case solved."

"Why you mischievous...COME HERE...!" David chased Lara around the island counter while she giggled and shrieked with laughter, then ran out into the main room to escape. As she saw the tree for the first time, she stopped and gazed at it in awe. David ran out and stopped when she did.

"David...it looks BEAUTIFUL..." she whispered. "I've never seen a tree like it."

David smiled. He had gone all out to get decorations of all kinds, not just for the tree, but for the whole manor. Red ribbon and wreaths decked the halls and Mannfred had proven to be invaluable when it came to finding the right decorations for the right areas. The main hall and the rooms in the house looked like the background of a Norman Rockwell painting. "I take it that you like it, then?"

"I love it, Dave. It's perfect...it's absolutely perfect."

"Egg nog, Master David?"

David turned to see Mannfred, ever attentive, standing close by with a tray upon which rested a crystal pitcher of egg nog and two glasses. David took the tray and set it aside. "Mannfred, don't you have your own family to go home to? After all, my good man, it IS Christmas."

"Why, Master David...I AM home. You are my family."

David was so touched by Mannfred's words that he couldn't reply for a few seconds. When he could, he said softly, "You're a good man, Mannfred." Then, in a more normal voice, "Hold on...you left a glass in the kitchen.I'll be right back." He left to get Mannfred's glass.

Mannfred smiled at Lara. "He's a good chap, he is."

"All that and more, Mannfred. All that and more."

"Oh, I almost forgot. That Ms. Daniels called, wanted to wish you and David a Merry Christmas. Said that she was sending you a present you could both enjoy."

"Did she say what it would be?" Lara asked.

"No...but from the way she said it, I believe that she was sending you some clothes." The butler shrugged. "Can't imagine why she would mention that you'd both enjoy it."

"Knowing Mace, it's probably some risque, extremely scandalous piece of leather apparel."

"Oh, dear." Mannfred looked worried. "Is there any special instructions I should follow when the gift actually arrives?"

"Yes. Bring it directly to my room and don't let David see you." Lara grinned. "I want to surprise him."

Mannfred nodded, understanding. "Very good, Ms. Croft." He hushed as David came out with a third glass.

"You know, one of these days, you're going to have to show me where everything is in the kitchen. I wouldn't mind cooking up something for you guys." He poured everyone a glass, then raised his in a toast. "Here's to 1998...let us all survive it with happy memories."

"Hear, hear." Lara clinked her glass against the others. "And let our lives be just a little more lively."

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Mannfred said cautiously.

"What's wrong with a little spice in our lives?" Lara asked, taking a large gulp of her egg nog...

...and spitting it out all over the floor.

Lara's hand flew to her throat. "My GOD, what is IN this drink???"

David suddenly looked both relieved and comprehending. "Gee...I guess THAT was the glass I spilled salt into..."

"DAVID CONNORS!!" Lara shrieked, outraged.

"Now, Lara, 'what's wrong with a little spice in our lives?' And that'll teach you to burn my fingers with hot cookie dough."

Lara sputtered, wiping her mouth, unable to say anything to turn the blame back on David. "Very well, David, we're even...but you'd better watch yourself. This is supposed to be Christmas, not April Fools'."

"Hey, you started it." David sighed. "Okay, I swear. No more practical jokes for the rest of the year."

"A week without wondering about the possibility of yogurt in my bed, ping-pong balls in my dresser, motorized rubber snakes in my clothing drawer..."

"Hey..." said David, confused. "I never put rubber snakes in your clothes!"

Lara and David's eyes turned to Mannfred, who was trying to leave as quietly as he could. "MANNFRED!" they both yelled, and the butler stopped, turning around guiltily.

"I can't believe you put motorized rubber snakes in my dresser!" Lara said accusingly.

"I can't believe you even HAVE motorized rubber snakes," David said wonderingly. "What catalog did you get those out of?"

"David, you're not helping!!" Lara snapped, then said to Mannfred, "Santa's going to be putting a great deal of coal in YOUR stocking tonight...and if you ever do that again, I'll start taking things OUT of your paycheck!"

Mannfred tried to look hurt, but the hint of a smile peeked out from under his white moustache. Without another word, he went back into the kitchen.

"Grade school children. I'm surrounded by grade school children, I swear..." Lara groused.

"Come on, Lara...your turn. No more practical jokes for the rest of the year."

"....rrrrrrr....alright. I promise. No more practical jokes for the rest of the year." She sighed. "Happy now?"

"Deliriously so." David embraced Lara and kissed her soundly. Lara snuggled into him as they kissed, enjoying the feel of having him back in her arms...and then the doorbell rang.

Lara looked at the clock. "She's here. Are you ready?"

"Yep."

"Dave?"

"Yeah?"

"I really do love you."

David smiled the smile of a man at peace with the world. "I love you, too, sunshine."

The large door opened and Lara and David looked out at a young woman who looked VERY familiar. She was dressed in heavy winter wear, and carrying a large box. "Hi, guys! Glad to see you!"

"Same here, you're right on time."

The box lowered and a mirror image of Lara Croft looked back at the two of them. "I am?"

"Yep...just like the memo said you would."

The box dropped to the stone and the clone began to change, growing fangs, claws and a very nasty set of spurs on her elbows and knees. Before she could leap at the two of them, she saw that their hands had come out from behind their backs...and that they were holding flamethrowers. Before the creature could attack, Lara and David aimed the nozzles and held down the triggers, bathing the Lara-thing in napalm. It never got the chance to do so much as look threatening.

When the thing was a burning heap on the front step, Lara lowered the flamethrower. "Looks like my clone was on the up-and-up."

"Yeah...I'm glad Laura could get into the Atlantic Company's e-mail before Interpol swooped down. Another 'contingency plan' by Natla, may Satan toast her with a really long, sharp fork."

Lara picked up the box and put it back in the car the Lara-thing had used to drive through the gates. "How is Laura, by the way?"

"She called this morning, while you were out getting the wrapping paper.She reminded us that the thing was coming and she said that she's gotten a job as a model." David smile grew wider. "She says that her most common reply nowadays is, 'No, I'm not her, but everyone says I look like her.' She scheduled her breast reduction operation for just after the New Year, and after that, she doubts that she'll be calling us again until she sorts out her new life. That money Mark got just before we bailed the plant sure paid off."

Lara set the car rolling out the gate and moved it into a field. She let it go for another twenty yards, then ran back through the gates to the house."How's Mark?" Lara asked as she passed the gates.

"Back at his home in New York. I heard he's planning on helping Laura out with her modeling career. Also hear that he and Laura might start seeing each other. I dunno...there's something about that guy that just doesn't seem, well, right." David said as Lara ran up to his side again, warming herself on the fire still burning in front of the house.

"And I suppose that we're normal?" Lara laughed. "It was probably just your imagination."

"I guess so..." David looked out to where the car was sitting in the field.

"Hey, Lara."

"Yes, Dave?"

"Ten pounds says it's an explosive."

"Three-to-one says it's a biological hazard."

"And if it is?"

"Then we die of some horrible disease together."

"How romantic. Anyway, it wouldn't be a bio-weapon."

"Why not?"

"Not Natla's style. She'd hit us with the creature, then have the bomb get rid of the evidence. Simple."

"Ten pounds says you're wrong."

"You're on." David looked out at the night sky. "You know what'd make this perfect?"

"What?"

"Snow. There should be snow on Christmas."

"It hasn't snowed here for a few years, David."

Suddenly the car went up in a monstrous fireball, the explosion nearly deafening them and causing the windows to vibrate and rattle. Then the heat wave came, causing a short, hot breeze. Lara, without turning to David, said in a disappointed tone, "You win."

"I'll settle for a kiss."

"Settle??" Lara looked up at David indignantly. "My kisses are worth _much_ more than ten pounds each!"

"Then pay up," David said, grinning and pointing up.

Lara looked up to see a sprig of mistletoe over the door, then back at David. "Dirty pool, Dave."

"Shut up and kiss me already."

Lara smiled and gave him a kiss that curled his toes all way up to his hips. She dragged him inside and closed the door, she whispered, "Wait until you see what I got YOU for Christmas."

"Oh, really?" David looked under the tree. "Which one is it?"

"Oh, it's not under the tree...it's up in my room." Lara Croft pulled away."I haven't finished wrapping it yet, so wait twenty minutes, then come on up to my room. I should have it wrapped by then." With a twinkle in her eyes, Lara went up the stairs two at a time, disappearing into her room.

David watched the place where he last saw Lara, then went to the window near the front door and watched the scenery, making sure that the fire from the car wasn't spreading or turning any funny colors. Even now, he found it hard to believe what he'd been through, what they BOTH had been through...especially that they survived, above all. _Maybe now things will calm down a little, now that Natla's gone. Maybe now...I can avoid the incredibly strange and life-threatening stuff Lara and I seem drawn to lately._

As he watched the world outside, small bits of white started altering the view. David's eyes widened in surprise. "Well, I'll be...it's snowing? It's snowing!" He felt absurdly happy as he saw first small flakes, then large ones, then flurries drop down upon the Croft property and the land around it. "First things first...snowball fight, then a snowman..."

"David...!!" Lara called from above. "Your present is ready!"

David grinned and ran upstairs. As he entered the bedroom, he stopped two paces from the door.

Lara Croft stood there, dressed in the evening gown he'd seen back on their first date to the Museum in New York. However, he did note a small difference; the gown was covering an elaborate white lace bodystocking, making the entire ensemble artistic in its contrasts. Five-inch black heels and a red bow pinned just above and between her breasts finished the look."Well, Dave," Lara said, giving him a smoky, seductive smile, "you'd better get over here. I want to do some unwrapping of my own and I can't do it with you standing all the way over there."

David walked closer, slipping his arms about her waist and holding her close. "You sure this is what you want?"

"Dave, I've wanted it from the moment I saw you in New York...but now, I think we're both ready...for a lot of things."

David was emotionally overwhelmed. He was barely able to ask, "But..."

"Shushhhhh..." Lara placed an finger over his lips. "There are some things you just don't talk about...you DO. It's time, Dave, for both of us..." Lara's smile turned into a come-hither grin. "So shut up and make love to me, Dave...I want you, right now."

David shut his mouth, covering it with Lara's, as he kissed her deeply.

When they parted, Lara exhaled breathlessly. "Nice."

"Merry Christmas, Lara. I love you."

"I love you too, David."

And so Lara and David celebrated a VERY Merry Christmas.


	13. Uninvited Guests

**Uninvited Guests**

**By C. Mage**

It was a glorious Saturday afternoon when they came to call.

A black Cadillac rolled up just within sight of the main gates to the Croft Manor. The two occupants inside wore black suits, white shirts, black ties and black sunglasses. They watched the house for signs of life for a few moments, then the driver nodded and started the casual drive up to and through the gates. "What do you think, Q?" asked the man in the shotgun seat.

"Looks pretty sharp, B. For an old mansion, this place has the best home security system on Earth. Cameras, motion detectors…and I'll bet it's a real pain to heat in the winter. So what's the plan?"

"We go in, check out the place, see if the blade's there, find out if this Lara Croft is connected and then leave. Same way we handled the Ark and that damned Chalice."

Q leaned back in his seat, putting his hands behind his head in a display of nonchalant relaxation. "Piece of cake. So what's so great about this sword, anyways? Magic?"

"You could say that. Here we are. Set the video scramblers and audio dampers. We don't want to leave any traces."

The car rolled through the open gates and stopped in front of the doors. The two men got out, looking around for any gardeners or other witnesses, then walked up to the doors and knocked. B took out a slim silver rod and held it up, his thumb on a small red button.

Mannfred went to the door and opened it. "Can I help you…?" he began, but the flash from the rod cut him off before he could finish the sentence.

B lowered the rod. "Now, Mannfred, tell us what you were doing before you came to the door."

"I was polishing the silver," the butler answered in a dull, lifeless tone.

"Where is Lara Croft?"

"Upstairs working on her latest manuscript."

"Is she alone up there?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now, you're going to let us in and go back to your work.You are going to ignore us while we're here and you will forget about us completely when we leave. You will have no memory of us at all and you will comply with any further request we give you while we're here. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Go back to work."

Mannfred shook his head, rubbed his temples and calmly left the two men in the foyer. Q turned to B. "Let's get this over with."

"You don't like using the neuralyzer, do you?"

"It just reminds me just how screwed up our jobs are, that's all. Remember that psycho who started using his neuralyzer to tell people to jump off roofs or go up into towers with rifles? How the hell did he get past the psych test?"

"It happens. But we got him, didn't we? Now let's just go do what we came here to do."

Lara Croft finished up the chapter and stood up, stretching.She wore a casual flannel dress, her 'writing garb' as she put it. Papers littered the table in her bedroom, some neat and some not-so-neat piles placed strategically around the table. _My word, but I've been lax in my work. I had no idea I was so backlogged on my deadlines. She smiled__. But then, Dave can be SO distracting… she thought, remembering what they had done for her birthday._

The door to her room opened and she smiled as she looked out the window. "So, Dave…is it time for tea already?"

"Nope."

Lara turned at the strange voice and got the neuralyzer full in the face.

David came out of the study, munching on a sandwich and wondering how he ever got himself mixed up in going back to school.

After dealing with Natla and some of their own issues, David had confessed that he'd never completed college. Lara had insisted that David take up some classes again, particularly in archaeology. David had almost said no when Lara reminded him that if he'd learn about her work, he would never have to worry about being mystified by it again. David remembered how lost he'd felt when Lara was talking shop with her friends at the museum a few weeks before and David decided to take some courses, with Lara as his tutor.

A few weeks later, David found himself surrounded by old, musty books and was enjoying his lessons more than he'd thought possible.Archaeology was very much like police work…just different kinds of mysteries. He had just finished a long essay on the stonework of the ancient Etruscans, but he was loath to bring it up to Lara immediately."Hey, Mannfred."

The butler looked up from his work. "Why, hullo, Master David.How's the schoolwork?"

"Thinking about playing hooky, to be honest with you. Did Lara go somewhere?"

"No, sir."

"That's odd." David frowned. "I thought I heard the front doors open."

"No, sir. Miss Lara has not left her room and no one has come in."

"Hm. Maybe I'm just getting a little brain-fried. I'll see if Lara's ready to grade my paper."

"Good luck, sir."

"Thanks…I'll need it."

"Well?" Q asked idly.

B frowned as the crystalline stone in his hand grew bright blue as he held it close to the entranced Lara Croft. "No doubt about it. She's the one. And that means that the sword's around here somewhere."

"Is that bad?"

"It's not good. It means that someone within her lifetime might cause a great threat to England and that she's going to bear the sword. The problem is, we don't know who she's going to give..."

"FREEZE!!" Q and B turned slowly around to see David Connors standing there, holding a gun on the both of them. "Who are you two and what have you done to Lara?? Lara? Can you hear me?"

"Yes," Lara said blankly.

"Now, my good man, stay calm. There is a perfectly good and rational explanation for all this. If you'll let me reach into my pocket, I'll show you my ID…" B put his right hand in his pocket.

David cocked the gun. "Take your hand out…real slow…!"

B smiled and hit the button on the neuralyzer as soon as the end of the rod cleared his pocket. There was a bright flash and David backed up, lowering the gun. B sighed. "Dammit, Q, I thought you said the building was empty."

"He must've been in the basement or something. Maybe he…" 

"I said, FREEZE!!"

Q and B stopped, then turned to look at David, who was holding up the gun again. "Nice try, boys, but I've got one of those flashbomb things, too. Now drop it and kick it over here."

B could barely respond. _HOW THE HELL…??? he thought, numbly dropping the device and half-heartedly kicking it over. David picked it up, looked at it, then walked over to the men and calmly removed their glasses._

"There…now I can see your eyes. Now spill it, boys, I don't care who starts first." Q and B were silent. David backed up and turned to Lara. "Lara, are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"What happened here?"

"I was resting from my work, these two men came in…" 

_Here it comes… thought B and Q at the same time._

"…and then they used that device and I was commanded to stand still."

"Oh, _really_??" David turned back to the men. "Like this??" The flash of light filled the room again. When David's vision cleared, the two men were now looking at him with the same blank expression that Lara wore."Now then, let's try this again, from the top. Who are you two?"

"We can't tell you."

"Can't…or won't?"

"Can't. We have been conditioned not to respond to any questions involving classified material while affected by a neuralyzer."

"What's a neuralyzer and what does it do…wait a second. You mean a neuralyzer like in that movie, 'MEN IN BLACK'??"

"Yes," answered Q.

"Some secret.If you guys are supposed to be so secret, why did you let the movie get released?"

"It was ventured that if a movie was made about the MiB, it would discredit the organization as a real agency and any information discovered about us, if any, would be written off as overactive fascination with the movie."

"So there really are aliens living on Earth?"

Silence.

"What are your names?"

"I am B. My partner's name is Q."

"'B'? 'Q'? Figures. Alright, let's get down to brass tacks. Can you tell me why this thing didn't work on me?" David sat down, feeling lightheaded.

"No."

"Because it's classified?"

"No."

"Why then?"

"Because we don't know."

"Great. The inventors are stumped. Hmmm…is it possible that the neuralyzer is not perfect, that it doesn't work on all human minds exactly the same way?"

"It is possible," said B.

"Has anything happened like this before?"

"Yes. There was a case where the watcher's head exploded."

David felt a migraine coming on. "Gee, thank God for small favors. Alright, I can guess what you can't tell me...what CAN you tell me involving this case?"

More silence.

"Fuck-a-duck…!" He turned to Lara, disgusted, when he realized that she was still under the "spell" of the neuralyzer's flash. "Maybe you can help me. Based on what you feel and what you know, what are the effects of the neuralyzer?"

"It places the viewer in a deep hypnotic state, open to all kinds of suggestion."

David considered, then picked up one of the sunglasses the MiB's had dropped. "Well, since they obviously don't want this happening to them, these must protect the eyes after all." He looked closer. "Ray-Bans, figures. Alright, Lara, what were they asking you? Did they tell you to do something?"

"I was asked no questions and given no commands."

"And you'll really do anything I tell you to do?"

"Yes."

"Can someone who's…well, neuralyzed, be commanded to do ANYTHING?"

B answered, "The subject is placed in so deep, that they will follow whatever orders are given."

"I thought a person who's hypnotized couldn't do anything that they would be violently against doing."

"That is misinformation circulated by MiB HQ. In actuality, if a person is placed in a deep enough state, their minds will rationalize their senses and even their memories to allow them to do what they normally would be incapable of doing."

A few thoughts flitted across David's mind, not to mention a few inspired suggestions to Lara Croft. Then he realized what he was thinking and said, feeling even more disgusted with himself, "Lara Croft, you will remember nothing that has happened since these two men came in. You will come to your senses completely and be fully alert when I snap my fingers.Do you understand?"

"Yes." David felt very strange as he snapped his fingers. Lara blinked, the vacant stare vanishing. She turned to look at the two men."Dave, who are these two men?"

"I have no idea." He walked to the floor and picked up the crystal and held it up. It was glowing white as he did. "But it has something to do with this. Recognize it?"

"No…it's obviously arcane, but it is far too basic in construction…" She turned to the two men. "What is wrong with them?"

"They're in a trance state right now. This did it to them," David added, holding up the neuralyzer, "and to you."

"Me? You mean I was…"

"Completely mesmerized."

Lara narrowed her eyes at the men. "What happened?"

"Nothing. They didn't ask you any questions or try to get you to do anything, apparently, but they were here to do something and they won't tell me what, even 'neuralyzed.' I guess they've got contingency plans for everything."

"So what do we do with them?"

"Well, we can't turn them in to the cops…this is WAY bigger than the local police, if they are the real Men in Black. We'd better just let them go."

"Let them GO? They invaded my home, put me under…" Her eyes narrowed at David. "YOU didn't do anything to me while I was under, did you?"

"Lara Croft, I'm appalled you even asked me that!"

"Well, you did seem rather disappointed that there were some things I won't do, even in the heat of passion," she said dryly.

"And I have to respect that. But that's not the…" David stopped and turned to look at the MiB's, still standing there. "Lara, can we discuss this in private? LATER?"

"Why? THEY won't say anything."

"That's not the damn point! I just…" David stopped. "You're yanking me, aren't you?"

Lara could stand it no longer and grinned. "I'm sorry, David, but you looked so indignant, I couldn't help myself."

"Is that supposed to be funny??" David held up his hands. "I'll talk to YOU later. Right now, I've gotta explain a few things to these guys…"

A half-hour later, B and Q left the Croft mansion, satisfied that they had learned what they needed to know. "Zed's not gonna like this."

"Zed's a computer, Q."

"Yeah, but still, he's a lot more self-aware than you think.He's going to be concerned that we found someone that may ultimately bear the sword, but couldn't find the blade itself."

"That just means she probably hasn't found it yet. It'll be fine. I'm just glad we got through there without any complications. When that David guy showed up…I'm glad we neuralyzed him before he could defend himself."

"Yeah, that was close. You feel like pizza tonight?" Q opened the door to the Cadillac and got in, his partner joining him on the other side.

Up in Lara's bedroom, David and Lara watched the black car leave. "I don't like this, David."

"What's to like? We don't have a whole lotta choice in the matter, but they seem to be genuinely professional about this whole thing, and since we're all not in chains, I don't think they're the Bad Guys."

"Maybe you're hypnotized to think that."

"Oh, don't get started on all THAT. My brain's boggled enough as it is. Besides, that neuralyzer thing didn't work on me, for some reason, so it can't be that."

"I just wish I knew why they were here."

"Me, too. But I've got a feeling that we're going to find out soon enough."

"That's what bothers me."

"Ditto. But until we do, let's just keep our eyes open. Which reminds me, I still owe you for that CRACK you made earlier. What made you think I was low enough to try and hypnotize you into doing whatever I wanted you to do?? I hate to bring up recent history, but the last time I checked, slavery was abolished by some guy named Lincoln."

"The idea didn't even cross your mind? Not even once? Come on, David, having a sex slave is something every man fantasizes about at least once."

David was silent for a few moments, then admitted, "Alright, it crossed my mind."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because I'd forever wonder if you stayed with me because you loved me or because you were 'persuaded' to stay with me." David went to a chair and sat down. Lara went over to the chair and sat in his lap.

"You know how I feel about you, Dave. I would've happily done what you would've asked. You could've hypnotized me into enjoying the idea about being your slave and I would've never known."

"Yeah…but I would've known and I've kinda got this thing about 'free will' that I just can't shake. Deal with it."

"Now, don't be like that, Dave…" Lara ran a hand through his black hair. "Don't be angry. I'm glad you feel that way about me and I'm relieved that you're not the type of man who would take advantage of me like that. It's one of the reasons why I love you. That, and you're a wonderful lay."

"LARA!" David exclaimed, scandalized.

"What, proper British girls don't talk like that?" Lara teased.

David sighed. "Let me know when one comes along and I'll ask her.You're incorrigible, you know that?"

"As you so eloquently said, David, 'deal with it.' Now I've got a book to finish, so run along and get back to your essay paper." Lara got up and went back to her desk as David got up and went to the door. He opened it, stopped, then turned to Lara Croft. 

"Oh yeah, one more thing."

"What?"

"Einstein Ice Cream." David waited as Lara looked at him strangely. "Feel an urge to crawl towards me on all fours and purr?"

Lara cocked an eyebrow. "Not in the slightest."

"Damn! It didn't work!" David said, irritated, and walked out the door.

It took Lara the time it took for the door to close to realize the implications of what David had said. Her expression darkened and she picked up a very heavy book, running towards the door. "Why you…you…YANKEE…!!!" she yelled, unable to think of any insult worse than that, then ran after David with the all-consuming goal of planting the book between his legs will all her strength…


	14. The Chest Of Jean Lafitte

**The Chest of Jean Lafitte**

**By C. Mage**

The month of January was a relatively calm one for David and Lara.

Calm, of course, being a relative term.

"DAVID CONNORS!!" Lara yelled, her long brown hair flying as she leaped over a chair. David ran out the door with a good ten lengths ahead of her and a grin on his face. "You're going to pay for that!!"

"You take Visa?" David laughed infectiously as he planned his escape, rounding the corner of the balcony and vaulting himself one-handed to the stairs below.

"No escape, you wretched little man!" Lara leaped after him, somersaulting over the railing and gaining a full five yards on him.

David vaulted over the edge of the banister, sprinting towards the Pool Room. "You act as if nobody ever gave you a friendly slap on the ass before!!"

"NOBODY HAS! Not even UN-friendly slaps!" Lara roared as she gained on him.

"Just hold still, David, I want to return the favor!"

"No, thanks. I'm not into that kinky stuff!"

"Since WHEN, may I ask??" Lara gained another foot as David ran around the edge of the pool. 

"Not since I've known you!"

"You enjoyed every minute of it and you know it!"

"That's not the bloody point!" Lara snarled. She was only a few feet behind him now. "I'm going to get you back, you evil man, and when I do...!!"

Mannfred calmly entered the room, bearing a silver tray with a cordless phone sitting on it. After a month of David and Lara becoming lovers, he had noticed three changes in their behavior. One, David looked a great deal less tense and more interested in keeping fit. Second, Lara began to act more feminine, and presented an aura of calm sensuality that Mannfred found comforting to see in his employer, since it meant that she was also feeling more relaxed and enjoying life.

Third, David and Lara would get into mad chases and "differences of opinion" about once every three days. Mannfred found these punctuations of insanity refreshing and entertaining. "Miss Croft, there is a person on the phone who wishes to speak with you. I suspect it is a business colleague."

Lara slowed and David smiled as he crossed to the opposite side of the pool while Lara went to the phone and picked it up. "Hullo? Why, Dr. Spencer, what a surprise! It's good to hear from you." Lara cupped the phone and stuck her tongue out at David, who only smiled in return. "Yes? Why, yes, I'm interested...Jean Lafitte?? Why, Dr. Spencer, why didn't you say so? Of course I'll be there." Lara paused. "Yes, David Connors will be coming along. Yes, the very same, and I agree; he's a dumb, obnoxious brute with all the charm and charisma of a lorry accident..."

"HEY!" David ran over to Lara, outraged. "What did he say?"

"I'm kidding, Dave, he'd already hung up." Lara grinned. "Gotcha."David fumed silently, but said nothing.Lara reached up and pinched his cheek. "You know, Dave, you're deucedly cute when you're smoldering. Now cheer up. We're going to go on a little trip."

"Should I pack any heavy hardware, or just the usual armaments?"

"Tut, tut, Dave. This isn't one of our usual tomb raiding jobs. This is just a calm, uneventful trip to a museum in the States, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ever been there?"

"The Big Easy? Nope. Never been that far south."

"Well, pack warmly...ever since El Nino came by, the weather is unseasonably hot, even for this time of year. During the evenings, it gets much cooler, so don't forget a jacket." Lara stretched lazily, then added, "I'd better go take a shower..."

"Mind if I join you?" David said with a warm smile.

Lara turned to look at him, a sly smile on her face. "Afraid not, David."

"Why not?"

Lara took David's hand and held it warmly. "Because you'll be too busy taking a bath while I'm taking my shower."

"Taking a..."

The next thing David knew, he was flying through the air just over the pool.

As Lara watched David break the surface of the pool shaking his head and sputtering, she grinned. "I _told_ you I'd get you, David-dearest." With that, she walked saucily away, putting a sway in her hips as David watched her leave.

He treaded water for a few moments, then swam to the side of the pool and climbed out. He looked up at the door where he'd last seen her, then said whole-heartedly, "HottaMIGHTY, what a woman...!" David then went to change his clothes and pack, reminding himself to ask Mannfred where the Hot Water Shutoff Valve was in the basement...

"Okay, Lara," David asked once they were on the plane, "what's the big deal about the Big Easy?"

"How much do you know about a pirate named Jean Lafitte?"

"He enjoyed wearing tailored shoes?"

"Cute. Jean Lafitte was an infamous pirate after the days of the Spanish Main, silver mines and Spanish occupation of the northern coast of Central and South America. During those times, Spain had a powerful foothold in that area, and Spanish governors used their clout and the convenient distance from the mother country to enforce a sort of martial law, raiding towns of other nations and enslaving the natives to mine silver for them."

"Nice bunch."

"At that time, England, France and Holland were also sending settlers to America, but when the Spanish began to torch their villages, the countries began commissioning independent captains to harass the Spanish."

"Pirates."

"Score One for the American. They were called privateers by their home countries. In any case, many privateers decided not to attack just any one country's ships, but to attack any that proved the most valuable. These rogues began to attack ships of their own home countries, but because they attacked the Spanish the most, they were tolerated to some degree. However, any that made mistakes were hung from the yardarm as soon as they were caught. Now, one of these rogues in this tradition was a Cajun named Jean Lafitte, who was first noted in New Orleans in 1806, years after the heyday of the Spanish Main, late sixteenth to seventeenth century. During that year, he opened a blacksmith shop."

"Sounds innocent enough..."

"Precisely. He opened it as a cover for his smuggling operations."

"What'd he smuggle? Gold, tobacco?"

"Slaves. He became the leader of a group of smugglers, who were based out of Grand Terre Island, about fifty miles south of New Orleans. Although his main trade was slaves, he branched out into all other forms of cargo, his fleet growing large enough to control all seagoing imports into New Orleans. He insisted that his men operate as privateers, legally commissioned to capture enemy ships and their cargo, namely British and French ships."

"Sounds like a really fun guy."

"Not according to the businesses he threatened. He was indicted as a pirate and the United States Navy decimated his base on Grand Terre Island in 1814. Despite the near-total destruction of the base, Lafitte escaped. The next we hear of him, he is approached by a British captain and offered $30,000 American to help the British attack New Orleans."

"What'd he do?"

"Jean Lafitte went to Governor Claiborne and told him of the planned attack, offering his help to fight the British."

"Lafitte apparently didn't think too highly of the British. No offense."

Lara smiled. "None taken. After all, I've always been something of a rebel against British values myself. During the battle, Jean Lafitte and his men fought valiantly, and successfully. President James Madison, in gratitude for Lafitte's service to the country, pardoned him and his men of their acts of piracy. However, that marked the end of Lafitte's career as he started looking for a new base of operations, but his search took a bit of time. Three years, to be exact. Most of his men deserted him by the time he finally settled on the island of Galveston, Texas. Four years later, in 1821, Lieutenant Lawrence Kearney of the Navy ordered Galveston evacuated.Lafitte moved to Mujeres Island off Yucatan, Mexico with a small token group of loyal men. Five years later, he died in near-anonymity in Teljas, Mexico."

"And that's how it all ended?" David sat back in his seat.

"Not quite. Before he died, one of his men told some stories about his captain to a local bartender. One of those stories was about a golden chest, one that Lafitte kept for himself and never opened, just put it in a safe place and only went to look at it once in a while. Then, after Lafitte died in Teljas, the chest was lost. None of his men ever knew where Lafitte had hidden it, but one thing was certain: Lafitte had gone off on a journey shortly before his death, and the chest had disappeared...until an archaeological team went to the island of Grand Terre a few years ago and started digging. Last month, while all that insanity with Natla was going on, someone broke into a private chamber on the island and found Lafitte's famous Chest. They're going to open the Chest at a grand exhibit, so we can find out what's inside. The curator is a dear friend of mine, and he invited us to the gala."

"Well, that's a relief. I was expecting some sort of catastrophe." David sat back in the seat and relaxed. "Now all we have to do is take a nap or two on the way down to New Orleans."

"Not quite..."

David turned to see a coquettish look on Lara's face. "What do you mean, 'not quite'?"

"Well, Dave...if you'll look around, you'll note that it's a rather small group of passengers and they'll all be asleep in a few hours. It's nearly nine at night, after all..."

"And...?"

"Well, now, Dave...that means the Lounge will be all to ourselves tonight."

"I thought the Lounge was closed on night flights."

"They are. But I have some lockpicks and..." Lara whispered into David's ear what they could do once they were inside the Lounge and had re-locked the door.

David squirmed a little in his seat as the crotch of his jeans suddenly became much more cramped. "You ARE adventurous, aren't you?"

Lara nodded, a sexy smile on her face. "You KNOW it."

David spent the next few hours getting some rest...and the next five hours afterwards in the Lounge, being glad that he had rested.

"Lara!

Dave and Lara walked out of the terminal to see a spry, thin old man waving at them. He wore a casual, blue button-down shirt and blue jeans, sturdy boots poking out from underneath the leg cuffs. He was balding, with white hair around his ears and a bushy, white moustache. Lara smiled and waved back. "Dr. Spencer!"

"Miss Croft, it is such a pleasure to see you!" The old man turned to regard David. "David Connors, I presume? I am Dr. George Spencer."

David shook Dr. Spencer's hand, feeling a firm, strong handshake in the man's wrinkled hand. "Nice to meet you." He looked around. "Kinda warm out for January, isn't it?"

"Only sixty-two degrees. But then, we've got a saying around here, David.It goes like this," he said as he directed Lara and David towards the baggage claim carousels. "'If you don't like the weather in Louisiana, wait a while. It'll change.'"

David looked up at the gray clouds overhead. "Well, let's get outta here before it does. It looks like it's going to pour all over the place."

"Does that a lot around here. The state is half swamp, after all." Dr. Spencer walked to a dark brown Cadillac and opened the door. "Get in." David and Lara dumped their luggage in the trunk and entered the car, settling in as Dr. Spencer got into the driver's seat and took off, squealing past two other cars and a taxi. "Sorry about the abrupt start, but people drive somewhat insanely around here."

"That's okay. Lara's used to people trying to run her off the road and I'm from New York."

"Oh, well then, you two should feel right at home."

"Dr. Spencer, when did the Chest come in?" asked Lara.

"Little more than a week ago. It's been in Customs until just this morning...idiots thought it might've been smuggling heroin or some other drug. Philistines." Dr. Spencer shook his head. "Once they were secure in that it was quite sealed, they allowed it into the country, and it was rushed to our labs to make sure those cretins hadn't stolen any of the gems." Rain began to spatter against the windshield and Dr. Spencer switched on the wipers. There was a slight screech as the wipers rubbed against the glass, then they were silent except for the faint thum, thum, thum of the rubber wipers moving back and forth. "Just in time."Thankfully, the Chest was still intact when it got to the museum."

David looked outside at the gray day, noting how green the landscape was even with all the buildings around. Planters dotted windows here and there, medians split the wide streets with long stretches of grass, trees and lawns lay in front of even the smallest of residences. It was as if the city was fighting a never-ending battle against the plant-life of the bayous. As they turned down a street paralleling the Mississippi River, David looked in awe at the sheer size of the river and its power...and then again at the dead fish and trash along the banks. "What is with this place?Last I heard, you could fish in these waters."

"Things have changed...Old Man River is seeing the pains of Man's Industry.The Mississippi is a favorite dumping ground for factories. The chemicals they dump into the river is slowly killing it, choking it with algae. There are some places where you can still fish, but don't try swimming in it."

"Damn..." David looked out and felt sad. He'd heard a great deal about the Mississippi, not to mention read everything Mark Twain had ever written.The magic had been stolen away.

"Once we get to the Museum, you'll be able to look at the Chest, and then we'll keep it under wraps until the unveiling this evening. I imagine you'll want to take a look at it before everyone else does."

"Indeed I do. Oh, David, isn't this exciting??"

"Yeah..." David sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, I was kinda looking forward to going on one of those steamboat rides on the Mississippi. Now it's like...oh, I dunno. It doesn't feel right, seeing the river like this."

"Don't fret, David...there are lots of other things to see here. The French Quarter, the Jax Brewery..."

"Sorry, I don't drink."

"Oh, it's not like that. The Jax Brewery is an attraction here. It doesn't brew beer anymore, but tourists can go through it and see some of the local color and goods from the South. You'll like it all...but that's for tomorrow. I've got reservations for you both at the Lion's Inn, right off the French Quarter. I'm sure the accommodations will be suitable for the both of you."

"Why, thank you, Dr. Spencer." Lara lay back and snuggled against David. He felt a little better then.

Lara looked at the Chest, eyes wide. The Chest of Jean Lafitte sat on a workman's table, surrounded by brushes and other tools reserved for the careful removal of stone and dust from all artifacts brought into this room. It was a burnished gold, with gems and precious stones, all the same size and cut, lined up like soldiers along the corners and edges of the box. The Chest itself was three feet long, two feet wide and just over two feet deep. "It's absolutely gorgeous. If the container alone is this valuable, imagine what might lay within."

"That's not all. We've found some writing on the underside of the Chest.Our translations of it is somewhat sketchy, since we can't quite identify the language."

"Can't identify? Doesn't it resemble any kind of language?"

"We've scanned the writing into the computer and it cannot find a true match anywhere...the closest we've come to any language is Aztec, but..."

"But?"

"According to the style of the pictograms, the writing PRE-DATES the Aztec civilization."

"Fascinating...Dave, come take a look at this."

"No thanks." Dave sat at a chair next to Dr. Spencer's desk.

"Why not?"

"Because that thing bugs me...I don't like it, not a bit."

"Spoilsport. It's just a valuable artifact."

"Do you want my opinion?"

Lara tore her eyes away from the box. "Is it constructive?"

"Yeah."

"Certainly."

"There's an old label that the Irish coined that seems to suit that thing...'the devils' own.' I don't even like walking near the thing."

Lara considered. She'd seen enough to know not to discount the paranormal when it came to artifacts. "Dr. Spencer, can the computer translate the inscription?"

"It already has. As far as we can tell, the inscription reads, 'The source of all things, both beginning and end. The Hand of God on the World.' At least, that's what we've got so far."

"So far?"

"The computer has only deciphered most of the message. There are still some words that haven't been decrypted, but the computer's still working on it.We should have the full inscription by this evening, sooner if we're lucky."

Lara looked again at the Chest and found it difficult to look away from it.She forcefully moved away from the chest, then turned to Dr. Spencer."Until I know more about the Chest, I feel that I should concur with Dave."

"Not you, too!" Dr. Spencer looked aghast. "Are you as superstitious as he is?"

"Yes...and I trust his feelings."

"There's an exhibition of the Chest _tonight_! Many very important people will be here, rich and powerful people who donate to the museum. What am I supposed to tell them, that they all have to go home because some thug has a _feeling?"_

Dave's eyes narrowed at the use of the word, "thug," but kept his mouth shut.

"Dr. Spencer, I did not get to where I am by being foolhardy, nor am I entirely unreasonable. The Chest may be shown tonight...but do NOT open it until I call in some experts to find out more about the Chest. For all we know, there may be some trap waiting within the Chest, and you wouldn't like any of your rich and powerful patrons to die simply because you were over-enthusiastic."

Dr. Spencer grudgingly nodded. "Very well then. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a reception to oversee. You can both find your way out, I presume?" Without another word, he walked out of the workroom.

"Nice guy...wish I had a daughter so I could forbid her to marry a guy like that." David stood up, visibly restraining his temper. "Who does that guy think he is?? '...some THUG...' He's lucky I didn't take a shot at him for that."

"Then he'd have been right, wouldn't he?" Lara smiled a little. "Don't worry about it, Dave...the fact that you didn't deck him proves him wrong."

"I was THIS close," David said, holding up his right hand, thumb and forefinger less than a centimeter apart. "What do you think, Lara?"

"The Chest IS a valuable piece of history, especially considering its apparent age..."

"I don't mean scientifically, Lara. What does your gut tell you?"

Lara stared at the Chest. After a long moment, she said, without taking her eyes off the Chest, "I can feel something like...a yearning for it, an actual desire to possess it." Lara turned back to David. "I have to make an effort to look away from it...and I feel a sensation like I'm being denied." Lara's eyes widened as she listened to herself speak. "Good God, David..."

"I think maybe we should leave."

"Good idea." Lara couldn't remember the last time she wanted to leave a room so badly.

"Preposterous! Utter nonsense!" Dr. Spencer looked at David and Lara as if green antennae had grown out of their foreheads.

"Listen, Dr. Spencer..." David began.

"And YOU! Why a prestigeous, honored archaeologist associates with the likes of you is beyond comprehension. Lara Croft, what compels you to put up with this albatross??" 

"Watch your tone, Dr. Spencer. We go back quite a few years, but you're being unreasonable. All I'm saying is..."

"All you're saying is that the Chest is bewitched! There's a 'spell' on it or something! Have you listened to what you're saying, Lara Croft?" Dr. Spencer strode out from behind his desk to face Lara and David. "Because of what this...savage...is saying, you're proposing that we cancel tonight's gala and disappoint some of the most..."

"That's it." Dr. Spencer and Lara turned to look at David, who was looking as if he'd just passed Angry and was swiftly coming up on Furious. "Lara, I didn't come here to take this kind of crap. If he wants to risk what's in the Chest, _fine_. I'm washing my hands of it and you, 'Doctor.' I'm even going to spare you the hassle of being around to tell you 'I told you so,' when that Chest blows up in your face. Ciao." With that, David turned and left the room.

"Dave!" Lara said, watching him storm out, then turned back to Dr. Spencer, who managed to look both angry and triumphant at the same time. "I'll be back, Dr. Spencer...and then you and I are going to have a few words." She turned and left the office, breaking into a run to catch up with David outside the museum. "Dave!"

"Sorry, Lara, but I had to get out of there before I broke that smug, self-important S.O.B. in half! I can't believe that guy...!!" David took a deep breath, then sat down. "You have no idea how MAD I was."

"I know, I know...he infuriated me, too. I kept wanting to help you put that..."

A loud argument interrupted her and she watched a couple leaving the museum. A man and a woman, apparently husband and wife, were storming out of the museum, both screaming at the top of their lungs. A stroller pushed by the woman had two shrieking children, both batting each other as best they could from their strapped seats. The man and woman were angrily berating each other as well as the children. David turned around just in time to see the woman stop the stroller, pull her son from the stroller and start to shake him violently!

"Hey!" David got to his feet as the husband went to his daughter, pulled her loose from the stroller...and pulled back a hand to hit her with a closed fist. The fist shot forward...

...then stopped as it was forcibly restrained by a grip of steel.The man turned to see David holding his elbow. "You wanna tell me why you're trying to kill your kid, pal?"

"Get on, now! Mind your business!" the husband replied.

"Look at your kid, tough guy? You're real tough when it comes to beating up two-year-olds, aren't you?"

The man looked at his daughter and the fire went out of his face. Tears were falling from her daughter's eyes and she was screeching like a banshee. The man looked at his wife, who was shaking the young boy frantically, angrily.

And that's when the New Orleans police showed up.

"How are they, Lieutenant?" David asked over a cup of coffee.

"Pretty shaken up." Lieutenant Boudreaux, a mildly overweight black man with a powerful frame and a pleasant face, walked to a coffemaker and emptied the pitcher into another styrofoam cup. "The parents are with a shrink right now...they're nearly hysterical with worry right now."

"Considering that they were hysterical with rage earlier, it seems only fair. So, how many times has this happened?" David asked.

"Never."

Lara sat upright. "Excuse me?"

"There's no file with them with Social Services. I've talked to some of their neighbors, and they say that the Parkers have never once done anything like this. They weren't in any financial trouble I know of...it's a mystery to me. It's like they just...snapped." He took a drink from his coffee cup. "Look, you two are free to go...I've got to take care of some paperwork. You can pick up your weapon at the front, Ms. Croft."

"They way they carried on..." Lara looked thoughtful as she and David walked out of the police station. "Dave, I need to go back to the museum."

"Oh, yeah, Doctor Fun is just going to let us waltz right in..."

"Not us, Dave, just me. I'll have a better chance of getting in if I'm alone."

"And what do I get to do?"

"I need you to go to the Library. Get everything you can on the expedition that found the chest, on Jean Lafitte, everything you can find that's connected to that Chest." 

"Alright...but what am I looking for?"

"See if you can find out where the Chest came from. I'll meet you there in three hours." Lara smiled as she walked away, while David sighed as he hailed a cab.

"Dr. Spencer, I'd like to speak with you."

"Later. I have some important, sensible people to talk to. People who don't worry about superstition."

"It is a well-known fact, Dr. Spencer, that all superstition has some basis in fact. Now, then, let's be professional about this, shall we?"

Dr. Spencer stopped trying to walk away from Lara and turned to look at her. "What are you proposing?"

"I wish to examine the Chest. Just the outside, see if the seal has been broken, see if I can discern its true origins."

Dr. Spencer stared at her, then went to a phone and dialed a number. "Leon, this is Dr. Spencer. A woman will be coming to you asking to examine the Chest. Give her access to the Chest, but watch her closely. If she attempts to open the Chest, remove her from the premises by any means necessary.When she is done, make sure that she leaves. Use force, if necessary." He hung up and turned back to Lara Croft. "I pray you are not wasting my time."

"I most wholeheartedly agree," Lara said, a touch of ice in her voice as she walked towards the labs.

When Lara entered the labs, she found it empty except for a giant of a man, standing a full seven feet tall and wearing a guard's uniform. He was a stern-looking man of thirty, with tanned skin and a worn-looking gunbelt. Inside the holster nestled a Colt .45 revolver. "You the woman Spencer mentioned?"

"I believe so."

"There's the box." Leon pointed to the Chest, sitting on a table. "Don't try anything funny."

"I'm an archaeologist, not a comedienne."

"I don't care if you're Marie Leveau, lady. Just mind yerself."

Lara nodded, walking over to the Chest and examining the writing. As she did so, she began to feel the guard's eyes upon her and suppressed a snarl.Ignoring him, she pulled up a chair and reached for the notes showing the decryption of the writing on the Chest. By the time the first hour of examination clicked by, she had found three errors in the computer's translation of the writings. The pictograms also seemed to hold a great deal more significance than Dr. Spencer had indicated, so Lara began to compare them to some of the writing she'd seen in Tihocan's tomb, finding some matches in the relief work.

From those matches, a more profound message made itself known.

As Lara Croft continued studying the phonograms, she realized that the computer had missed some important meanings through the inflection of the writings. She began to go over the entire message again, now armed with this knowledge, and found out that the first translation of the message, while similar in some ways, was incorrect.What she finally found made her wish that the computer had been right after all.

She got up and shoved the papers she had used to translate the writings into her backpack.

"You done, lady?"

"Most assuredly. Now, I want you to tell Dr. Spencer not to open that Chest under ANY circumstances. The translation was wrong!"

"What??" Leon asked, but Lara Croft was already walking towards Dr.Spencer's office. "Hey, you!! You heard Dr. Spencer. You look at the box, then leave."

"He didn't know what I now know!"

Lara heard the telltale click of a gun and stopped. She turned slowly around to see Leon's Colt pointed right at her. To her dismay, Leon looked absolutely livid. "You leave on your feet or you leave feet first. Call it."

She paused, saw Leon cock the gun. "Alright, Leon...I'm leaving. But I'll be back."

"I'll be waiting."

Leon kept the gun on her all the way to the Museum entrance.

_How did that Chest find its way into Lafitte's hands?? Lara thought as she burst through the door into the New Orleans night. She looked at her watch and swore. __I have less than an hour to find Dave and stop the Chest from being opened!_

"What crawled up her butt and died?" Leon shook his head and went to Dr. Spencer's office to report that Lara Croft had left. As he left, he passed by four museum workers and two security guards, who went to the Chest and picked it up, bringing it to the exhibit area.

Lara ran into the Public Library and stopped. _I can't waste time combing the place for him._ She walked to the Information Booth.

A young woman looked up at her and asked in a thick, polite Southern accent, "Yes, ma'am, may ah help you?"

"Certainly. Just sit there for a moment." Lara reached over and grabbed a microphone sitting in front of the young lady, pulling it to her mouth.

"Hey! You cain't do that!"

"Be a dear and shut up, will you?" Lara said sweetly, thumbing the ON switch. "Dave, get your Yank arse down to the Information Booth, straight away." She pushed the microphone back towards the woman, whose mouth was open in a scandalized O of shock. "Thank you for your assistance."

David took the stairs two at a time, holding a slim stack of paper as he ran down the stairs towards the Information Booth. He found Lara arguing with another woman and an elderly man, with several others trying to tell them to quiet down. He stepped up to them and said in a voice slightly higher than theirs, "ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, I CONFESS!"

That shut them up from the surprise alone. All eyes were on David now, including Lara's.

"Thank you. Lara, can we go now?"

"Certainly. If you'll excuse us," she said to the flabbergasted group now trying to get them to stay around long enough for the police to arrive.When they got outside, they turned to each other and said, "I think we're in trouble."

Lara sighed. "You first, David."

"Alright..." David started shuffling through the sheets as Lara hailed a cab back to the Museum. "According to what I found out, Lafitte wasn't the first to own that Chest. It was also owned by a Spaniard named Leo Mendoza."

"How'd you figure that out?"

"I did some research and found that Lafitte's Chest bore striking similarities to a chest owned by this plantation owner in South America.According to what's at the Library, this Mendoza character acquired the chest in Africa, probably by underhanded means. He's not known for having the Chest, however. History paints a more dramatic picture of what happened _after_ he got the Chest."

A taxi screeched to a stop and Lara pulled David inside. "The Museum, if you please," she said curtly to the driver, then turned back to David. "Go on."

"Soon after he got the Chest, he killed his slaves, then his guests at a party later that evening, then his family. He finished up by burning down his house and the plantation it sat upon; guy spent the rest of his life in an insane asylum."

"That makes a great deal of sense. Look...I deciphered the inscription on the Chest."

"I thought Dr. Spencer had already done that."

"The translation was incorrect. The computer missed some vital key phrases."

"So what does it REALLY say?"

"It says, 'I am the end of all things, the beginnings of destruction upon the world. I am Garkull, Spirit of War, Father of Hatred and Anger. My hand shall unmake all things on Earth.'"

"Please tell me you're being overdramatic."

"I'm afraid not."

"So what, you're telling me that there's some sort of DEMON inside that Chest?"

"Yes, a demon that manifests itself through unreasonable rage."

David's eyes widened. "Dr. Spencer...the parents at the front door...holy shit!"

"Yes, not to mention yourself and Leon, one of the security guards.Everyone who gets close to that Chest gains both a desire to open it and a rage against the world. I'll wager it manifests itself with rage and anger that already exists inside people...and there's going to be a LOT of people at the exhibit tonight." Lara sat back in the seat as the taxi sped on."Dave, I think I see a pattern that might explain what happened. Mendoza may have gotten his hands on it, taken it home and opened it up. Garkull came out, either possessed Mendoza or just inspired him to kill his friends and family and destroy everything he owned, and then found that, for some reason, he had to go back into the Chest. Lafitte came into possession of it, but something kept him from opening it and he simply kept it hidden away. The chest was later found and then brought here..."

"And Dr. Spencer's gonna open it up and unleash this thing back on the world again. Just GREAT. We've gotta stop him!"

"Obviously, David...but how? There's going to be Security all over the place...we won't be able to just walk in and take it. And the exhibit will open in about..." Lara checked her watch. "Three minutes ago!"

David leaned forward. "Get us to the Museum NOW!"

"Sorry, mac, but it'll be at least fifteen minutes..."

David shoved a hundred dollar bill through the slit in the plexiglass. "Get us there in two minutes and there'll be another five in it for you!"

"Buckle up!" the cab driver responded enthusiastically, tromping on the gas pedal and driving like a maniac past other cars and through intersections.Lara and David did as they were bid, and just in time, too. The cab rounded a corner on two wheels and David and Lara both had to lean hard to the right to keep the cab from tipping over as it turned!

A few more turns like that, and they arrived at the Museum only a few minutes later to find several police cars waiting outside! "Are we too late?" David wondered aloud.

"Come on!" Lara left the cab and David followed, after first throwing five one-hundred dollar bills into the front seat. They ran to the first police car they came to and found Lt. Boudreaux looking haggard. "Lieutenant!"

"Funny seeing you two here again...what are you doing here?"

"You first? What's going on? Murder?"

"No...we got a call about a robbery."

"THERE she is!!"

Lara, David and Lt. Boudreaux turned to see Dr. Spencer walking towards them, utter rage in his eyes. "There she is!!! Officer, arrest that woman!!She stole the Chest of Jean Lafitte!!" 

"I don't care WHAT you say, Lara Croft must have stolen it!!"Dr. Spencer was nearly hopping up and down in rage.

"Be serious, Dr. Spencer…both Lara and David were with me shortly before the Chest was stolen. They couldn't have gotten here in time to pull it off. Now quiet down while my men examine the crime scene." Lt. Boudreaux said, the soul of patience. "The officer over there will take your statement." Dr. Spencer gave Lara and David a look that could pickle onions at fifty paces and walked over to the officer the Lieutenant indicated. Lt. Boudreaux turned back to David and Lara. "You two are in deep, you know that?"

"Ah, familiar ground at last..." David muttered.

"Listen, I've heard about you, Miss Croft. You deal with stuff like this on a regular basis. Maybe you can find out what happened to the Chest."

"Excuse me a bit, Lieutenant, but have you ever heard of me?" David asked.

Lt. Boudreaux looked at David. "No, can't say that I have."

"Thank God for small favors, at least I still have some anonymity. We'll find the Chest, but I need to go inside and check the crime scene."

"I can't let you do that, you're a suspect!"

"I was a cop, too. Maybe I can find something Dr. Frankenputz missed."

"No. Stay out of this, David, New Orleans' Finest are working on it. Just do what you can about the Chest, but I can't do anything about letting you in the crime scene. I'll call you later with a report on it." He saw the looks on their faces and said, "Cripes, that's the best I can do. It's the law."

David nodded. "Alright...we'll go. We'll check out a few leads, so if we're not home, just leave a message or any deliveries at the front desk. We'll get it later."

Lara shook Lt. Boudreaux's hand. "Good luck."

"Thanks, I'll need it. That, and some Maalox..."

"Well, Lara, where do we start?"

"Actually, David, I was going to ask you that question. You're better at more recent mysteries than I am, admittedly."

They found a bench in the park near the Museum and sat down."Are you any good at breaking into places built after the turn of the century?"

Lara smiled. "I am quite good at that, actually."

"Good, because we're going to need a look at the crime scene, not to mention a few other places...and that means going back into the Museum after the police have gone."

"In that case, we'd better go get some gear. And I know just where to get a couple of items we don't have."

"Lara, do you know _every_ Black Market location in every city around the world?"

"Don't be silly, Dave."

"Good, because you had me worried there."

"I only know where the Black Market is in every _major_ city around the world." Lara smiled and rose, hailing a cab.

"How do you know _that_, might I ask?" David asked as he got up and walked to Lara's side.

"Comes from years of having to find stolen artifacts after they've been plundered."

"I had to ask. So what are we going to need?"

"A few items to disable the alarms and security cameras. They don't usually sell those kinds of items at Radio Shack."

A yellow cab sidled up next to them and they got in. "Where to, lady?" asked the cab driver.

"Twelve-fifteen Henessy Row East, and step on it."

"A lingerie store??"

Lara got out of the car and tipped the driver heavily. "What were you expecting? A pawn shop?"

"I know, I know, but still..." David looked up at the sign overhead which read, "The Sweet Shoppe."

"But still what?"

David walked over to her and whispered, "I was planning on coming by here later to get something for you."

Lara giggled and pressed the CALL button. The intercom spoke in a scratchy androgynous voice, "Store hours are over."

"It's Lara. I need to pick up a few things."

The sign slid forward from its mount on the wall overhead and David saw a camera lens looking down at them. The door buzzed and Lara opened it, pulling David inside. As Lara led him through the darkness to the rear of the store, David quipped, "The price of stretch lace must be going way up."

"You have no idea," Lara said, grinning as she found a door and opened it, revealing a flight of stairs lit by a forty watt bulb that buzzed as if it were on it's last watt. They went to the top of the stairs, up three flights, and opened the door at the top. Behind it was a huge loft filled with a lot of nothing. The furnishings were Spartan, almost nonexistent, with a table in the middle of the loft surrounded by three chairs. An attractive Black woman sat in the chair facing the door they went through, a light shining directly overhead, shadowing her features. "Well, Lara, it's been some time since you came to the Big Easy. What do you need?"

"Never the one for small talk, are you, Charlotte?"

"You took me away from a hot date, Lara." Charlotte turned to look at David. "Although if you give me him, I'll consider it worth my while."

"Not a chance, Charlotte. I deal in money, not flesh. Besides, he's not your type."

Charlotte leaned forward as they approached the table. She was an attractive woman, fine features, but her bare arms showed a well-toned frame. As Lara and David got closer, they could see that she was wearing a black and red evening dress that flattered her toned figure to a high degree. "Suit yourself, Lara. What do you need?"

"We're planning a little second-story work tonight."

"Wait." Charlotte stared at David. "Honey, you look like heat.I certainly hope you're not bringing me a lot of trouble, darlin'."

"EX-heat, Charlotte. And I'm the one getting involved with a break-in, so I don't think you've got anything to worry about," David said gregariously. "Huh. We'll see. If I have to relocate, Lara, it's going to cost. What do you need for the work? Electronics? Guns? Explosives?"

"Electronics, Charlotte. Toys for getting through security systems."

"How much are you willin' to pay?"

"What do you have?"

Charlotte smiled. "My kinda girl. What are you planning to hit?"

"The Museum of Natural History."

"Well, Lara, because I like YOUR face and HIS bod, I'll assemble what you need and have it sent to you."

Lara frowned. "You used to show me the goods on more immediate terms, Charlotte."

"Sorry, Lara, but I don't show any heat, even ex-heat, where my merchandise is. And it'll cost you up front. The whole thing, eight thousand dollars."

Lara reached into a pocket and pulled out a blue card. "This is a smartcard. It'll go to an account with only eight thousand dollars in it. Try to withdraw more and the ATM will eat the card.I recommend you take it to a branch bank to get the money you need, or you can just hand it to the bank manager in charge of electronic transfers; he'll know what to do with it. Once the transfer is done, the account closes. Untraceable."

"Don't you just love the technology curve?" Charlotte took the card. "I'll have to look into these a bit further. Where do you want the goods delivered?"

Three hours later, Lara and David found themselves on the roof of the Museum. Charlotte had been as good as her word, delivering on time, and the two adventurers lost no time in putting them to work.

David looked at Lara as she looked over the equipment Charlotte had delivered. "Should I be worried that you know how to break into places like this?"

"Certainly not." Lara grinned. "I have great barristers."

David sighed. "I think I got out of police work at the right time." He watched as Lara placed electronic contact wires around the skylight. "Ready?"

"Just a moment, luv...there! All clear."

David opened the skylight and dropped a rope down to the floor, rappelling down and landing softly. Lara followed suit and looked around.

"All clear...looks like that rotter, Leon, gave everyone the night off."

"Yeah..." David said thoughtfully. "You check out the workroom and locker rooms, see what you can find on our security guard friend. I'll check out the crime scene."

"See you in a few, Dave. Ta." Lara crept towards the rear of the museum while David made his way to the area sectioned off with yellow ribbon tape.

Lara came back a few moments later while Dave was standing in front of the display. "Any luck?"

"Maybe. Tell me about Leon."

"He's clean. He's so clean he squeaks, in fact. I couldn't find anything even hinting at wrongdoing, even in his personnel file. You?"

"I've got a hunch...remember how angry Dr. Spencer was at you when he accused you of stealing the Chest?"

"Yes. But that could just be residual influence from the Chest."

"Maybe not residual. Think about it, that thing is made of gold. Leon's a weekend warrior growing fat off a cushy job, he couldn't lift it without help."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that whoever stole it would need a whole team of people to carry that thing off."

"But that's impossible. They couldn't have done that with the area blocked off yesterday, there were people all over the place."

"Precisely."

Lara looked at the display. "You think...?"

"Yeah. The Chest didn't go anywhere except out of sight." David suddenly turned. "Lara, back! Someone just opened the front doors."

They sprinted behind a large banner of Jean Lafitte and watched the scene. A few seconds later, Dr. Spencer and a man they didn't recognize walked in. The stranger was a tall man wearing the clothes of a stage magician, complete with top hat.

"Well, Blaise, here we are. NOW will you unlock it?" Dr. Spencer asked anxiously. The stranger nodded, tapping the side of the main display three times. The large pedestal where the Chest once sat obligingly opened to reveal the Chest within it. "Must you always be so damned melodramatic?"

"I'm a sorcerer, Doctor. It's in my blood. Now, you remember the deal?"

"Yes, yes, I know, I get whatever's inside the Chest and you get the Chest itself. Let's get on with it!"

Blaise nodded and pointed his magic wand at the Chest. As Dr.Spencer, David and Lara watched, the Chest rose a few feet in the air and floated effortlessly to the middle of the room. "How...how did you DO that?" Dr. Spencer asked when the Chest settled to the floor at last.

"Not all my magic is smoke and mirrors, Doctor. You should keep that in mind. Now, it is time for you to get what's coming to you. There's the Chest; it is yours to open."

Dr. Spencer walked to the Chest and withdrew a small key.Behind him, Blaise began moving his hands in concentric circles, murmuring to himself. Dr. Spencer was beyond noticing as he unlocked the Chest. "At LAST...after forty years of looking, the treasure within this Chest is finally mine. MINE. MINE!"

"It certainly is, Doctor." Blaise smiled as he lowered his hands.

Lara elbowed David. "Dave! We've got to stop him!"

"Stop him? I don't even know what he's doing!" David whispered back.

And then Dr. Spencer opened the Chest.

An unholy scream pierced the darkness as _something_ came out of the Chest. Blaise hastily completed his spell and three rings of light blazed into life around Dr. Spencer and the Chest. As Lara and David watched, horrified, the blackness surrounded Dr. Spencer like a carnivorous fog. Then they heard Dr. Spencer scream, long and high, as if his flesh was being stripped from his bones, then dying down to a low, pitiful gurgling, and the blackness was gone.

Dr. Spencer stood within the center, his head bowed, then he looked up at Blaise. His eyes glowed the color of red-hot embers.

"I command you, Garkull ben Augurra, Defiler and Destroyer, and bind you within the Rings. You are mine to control!"

The thing that was once Dr. Spencer reached for Blaise, but his fingers could not go any further than the area marked by the first ring around him.

"You are bound by the Gates of Form, Spirit and Power. Only I can open the Gates, and I will not do so until you Swear loyalty to me."

A thick, powerful voice came from Dr. Spencer's throat. "I KNOW YOU, MORTAL. OTHERS OF MY KIND, MY CHILDREN, HAVE BECOME YOUR SERVANTS.WHICH ONE OF THEM BETRAYED MY NAME TO YOU?"

"None. I found your Name in the Chronicles of St. Augustus of Milan."

"OF COURSE...I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN. YOU TRAFFIC WITH THINGS BEYOND YOUR UNDERSTANDING, MORTAL."

"You underestimate me, Garkull. I have studied you for some time, and I have you in my power now. I could leave you here and let you become the object of speculation for other mortals, or I could send you back to the Chest..."

"CURSE YOU TO PAIN AND THE FIRES OF GEHENNA!!!" Garkull spit fire at Blaise, but the third Ring protected him. "I SHALL FEED UPON YOUR SOUL WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!!!"

"I am weary of this, Garkull. Time to put the genie back in its bottle."

"WAIT."

Blaise smiled. "Yes?"

"WHAT ARE YOUR TERMS?"

"Thought you'd see reason. Very well, my list of demands are..."

"My cue, I believe."

David suddenly turned to his right when he heard Lara's voice...particularly because Lara was on his right when he last saw her.Now she was on the other side of the room, holding a pair of .45s and aiming them at Blaise. "Shit..."

Blaise turned to look at Lara. "Ah...Miss Lara Croft. So good of you to come. No good performance should be without an audience."

"Put Garkull back in the Chest, or I'll put a bullet in your brain."

"I can't do that, Lara Croft. Besides, if you kill me, who'll be around to control the demon? You don't have the know-how to handle a monster of this magnitude and you know it."

"Really? David, you can come out now."

Blaise turned to see David Connors step out from behind a pillar. "And who is that?"

"Blaise, allow me to introduce you to David Connors. He also something of a demonologist, and he could imprison Garkull...or he could simply banish him back to Hell, which I imagine Garkull would like just fine. And since you created the Rings already, it would be rather easy for David to do that, wouldn't it, David?"

_What is she babbling about? I know about as much about demonology as I do about Mozart!_ "Easily," David nodded, smiling and praying that the bluff worked.

Blaise began to look worried, which made Garkull smile wickedly. "NOW YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL."

"Shut up," Blaise snarled.

"OH CERTAINLY, WISE AND CAPABLE SORCERER," Garkull said sarcastically.

"Your choice, Blaise. Live and learn, die and forget."

As Blaise felt the situation go wildly out of control, he let his concentration slip for just a split-second. But it was long enough for Garkull to send a pinpoint of power right into the third Ring. The concussive force of the explosion collapsed the Ring and the three humans were tossed about like tenpins in a bowling alley after a strike! Lara landed in the Medieval wing, David crashed into a display of a pirate ship and Blaise touched down behind a pillar near the main entrance.

The two remaining Rings collapsed.

"FREEEEEEEE!!!!" Garkull thundered, the flesh of Dr. Spencer ripping and expanding until he was twenty feet tall. His skin was mottled red and brown, with two tentacle-like tails, large bat wings, three sets of clawed arms and a face that could stop Father Time in his tracks. Garkull looked down at the Chest. "FREE OF YOU, FILTHY BOX, FREE FROM MY GILDED PRISON...AND NOW, I SHALL HAVE MY REVENGE UPON YOU ALL!!"

_This can't POSSIBLY be good... David thought as he got to his feet. "LARA!! WHERE ARE YOU??" Garkull turned to look right at David."Oh, shit," he said calmly, then dove for cover as one of Garkull's claws came down on his position._

Lara, by this time, was shaking her head to clear the daze away. When her vision cleared, she saw David nearly crushed by a fist the size of a desk. With a growl, she leaped to her feet and began spraying lead at the monster with her Uzi machinepistols. The demon didn't even notice, lashing out with its claws as David sprang away before he could get flattened. She looked around the exhibit and saw something that caught her gaze. A six-foot-long sword lay a few feet away from her and Lara remembered the last time she and David were in a museum and fighting for their lives.

Meanwhile, David was moving as if gravity had taken a coffee break. He ran up the stairs, the demon hot on his heels, but still moving ungainly thanks to its awkward size. David ran up to the top and ran along the balcony as the behemoth raised his head to look at David. They both stopped, eyeing each other, then David smiled. "Hey, buster, I think you've got something in your eye," he said quickly, dropping his right hand and letting the flashbomb trigger fall into his palm.

Garkull roared and Dave closed his eyes, thumbing the trigger.

The flash of hot, white light blinded Garkull and he stepped back, covering his eyes with three of his clawed hands as the others thrashed around, crushing everything they touched. David backed up a few steps, then saw a flash of steel out of the corner of his eye and turned to his left.Lara came into sight one floor down and carrying the sword. He resisted the urge to yell Lara's name, fearing that it would alert Garkull.

As it turned out, David needn't have worried.

"GARKULL!! I command you to stop! Bel azia remmanorum! Diabola mort cortonu!!"

Garkull turned towards the voice and hissed, "SORCERER...!!!I CAN NOT SEE YOU, BUT I SHALL CRUSH YOU LIKE THE WORM YOU ARE IF I HAVE TO DESTROY THIS BUILDING AND EVERYTHING IN IT!" Garkull charged after the voice as Blaise's nerve broke and he ran back towards the Jean Lafitte exhibit area.

David ran down the stairs to meet Lara. "Looks like Blaise has a New Best Friend," David said, mildly out of breath. "So, you want to drive the escape vehicle or shall I?"

"I'm afraid that's not an option until we banish Garkull, or he'll break loose and..."

"...turn the Big Easy into the Big Ditch, I had a feeling you were going to say that. So how do we do it? Do you know how to banish a demon?"

"Yes."

David's eyes widened. "THEN WHAT WAS ALL THAT STUFF YOU TOLD TALL, DARK AND GRUESOME??"

"Diversionary tactic, Dave. He'll expect it coming from you, now, not from me."

"Oh thanks EVER so much!!"

"Here, you may need this." Lara handed him the sword. "It's not much, but it's better than being unarmed."

As David took the weapon, both of them staggered back as they both saw a vision. For one split second, David was looking down at Lara at the side of a lake. She was underwater, but it didn't look like she was drowning; her face looked calm and resolute.

Then the vision passed and they were both back in the Museum.

"What the Hell was THAT??" David asked. He saw Lara blinking.

"Did you just see...?"

"Can we discuss it when we no longer have a twenty-foot-tall monster chasing us?"

"Good plan." David hefted the blade with both hands. "Let's carve us a Halloween turkey."

Blaise ran down a corridor and stopped. He'd been running so fast, he lost track of where he was. The darkness around him didn't help.He stopped by an Egyptian statue and paused to take some well-needed oxygen into his lungs.

"Blaise!!"

The sorcerer looked up to see Lara Croft looking at him. She was forty feet away, but light through a window illuminated her form. "What do YOU want? I'm busy!"

"We can't get rid of Garkull on our own. We need your help."

Blaise stood up and walked towards her. "Where is he?"

"Chasing my friend David on the second floor. We desperately need your assistance!" Lara flung herself at Blaise, embracing him."I'll do _anything_ if you help us!"

"Anything?" he asked suggestively. _After all, she's a rich, young, attractive woman...I could milk this for all it's worth!_ "Alright, Lara, but it's going to cost you."

Lara looked up at him with adoring eyes and smiled...with sharklike teeth. "NOT AS MUCH AS IT'S GOING TO COST YOU, SORCERER," she said in Garkull's voice.

Blaise was suddenly able to see the long tentacle coming out of "Lara's" back, ending in the large form of Garkull's shoulder. The demon smiled with both sets of teeth and "Lara's" head began to warp until the only feature on the puppet's face was a reptilian snout with several rows of teeth inside. As the puppet pressed itself up against Blaise in a parody of sexual interest, the puppet began to feed on Blaise.

David and Lara stopped as they heard the screams, gibbering and insane. David turned to Lara. "Blaise?" he wondered aloud.

Lara didn't answer. She went to the glowing patterns in the Rings and closed her eyes, tracing sigils into the Rings with her fingertips. As she did, David heard loud THUMMs coming from behind them.

"Uh, Lara, I hate to rush a lady when she's trying to save our butts...!"

"Shhh! I need to concentrate!"

David heard the thunderous footsteps slow, becoming intermittent. "He doesn't know where we are, yet."

"SHHH!"

David got up and looked towards the direction the sounds were coming from and took a deep breath. "How much time...?"

"David, kindly shut up unless you want me to make a mistake and banish ourselves instead of him."

Only the sounds of Garkull's footsteps could be heard now.

The demon turned a corner and smiled as it saw Lara Croft sitting in the inactive Rings, apparently trying to decipher them. It smiled as it stomped towards her, reaching out and grabbing her, bringing her to its mouth so it could see her face just before he devoured her.

Then its mouth dropped open as it realized two things. One, the Lara Croft it was holding was a mannequin dressed in Lara's Clothes.

Two, Lara's voice was heard from its left.

"...restarum impriso GEHENNA!"

"NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Garkull screamed as the ground underneath turned into a seething black whirlpool tinged with red fire, created as Lara completed the Banishment. All of it's arms grasped at the edges as it sank quickly into the abyss, stopping as it reach the length of its grasp.Garkull gritted the teeth in its fanged mouth and exerted all its strength, hauling its gigantic mass back out of the gap.

Lara concentrated on holding the gap open long enough to banish Garkull from the face of the Earth, her own eyes squeezed shut and her fists clenched as she blotted out all distractions. Her will alone kept the gate to Hell open.

Garkull was about to try and get a better grip when it heard David's voice. "HEY, UGLY!!" It opened its eyes and looked up to the source of the voice. David stood on the second level at the railing. The Chest was precariously balanced on the edge. "DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE TOWN WITHOUT YOUR LUGGAGE!" David strained at the Chest and pitched it over the railing.

Garkull's eyes went wide as it saw the solid gold, five hundred pound Chest fall towards him. The Chest hit the demon right between the eyes and it howled as the excess weight and inertial force tore his claws loose, sending the demon back to the Nether Regions of the Abyss.David looked down into the hole past the demon and thought he saw, just for a moment, two gigantic, malevolent eyes looking right back at him. "LARA! You can close the door now! 'Elvis' has LEFT the building!!"

Lara opened her eyes and released the Gate. It closed with the unmistakable sound of a stone wall crashing into place. An eerie silence filled the room as David came down the stairs slowly, looking around as if Garkull might yet again come out of the woodwork to kill them both. Lara stood up from her hiding place among the pirate display and walked out to meet David.

"Are you alright?" Lara and David asked each other at the same time, then collapsed into nervous laughter as they looked around.

"I think we'd better get out of here. I'd better change."

"Into what?" David asked. 

"The clothes that dummy was wearing fell into the Abyss." David looked at the clothes she had worn; a simple dress and bodice worn by one of the pirates' slaves from the display in the Caribbean exhibit."Besides, you look good in that."

"Typical. You like me in anything that accents my figure."

"True, but this time you don't have a choice. Come on, let's get out of here before the police show up."

EPILOGUE

"So, Lara, what does the local press say about what happened at the museum?" David walked out onto the balcony of their third-floor hotel room where Lara was relaxing. He bore a tray with a hot breakfast on it, complete with milk, orange juice and a slim vase with a rose therein.

Lara smiled at the rose, sniffed it, took up the paper again as David sat down. "'Dr. Spencer, noted historian, is still missing after the theft of the Chest of Jean Lafitte...'"

"Boo, hiss."

"'...took place four nights ago. Sources at police headquarters are silent on the issue...'"

"Because the evidence suggests something they'll never believe or understand in a billion years."

"'...but a warrant for his arrest has been issued, as well as a warrant for Blaise Mouchon, believed to be his accomplice in the theft.' Partners in crime." Lara shook her head as she drank her orange juice.

"Poor man. Literally consumed by greed and lust for recognition."

"Not to mention a demon from the darkest pits of Hell."

Lara frowned disapprovingly. "Don't be flippant, David. This is hardly what I'd call a 'happy ending.' Dr. Spencer was a good man, once. As for Blaise, he knew what he was getting into, unlike Dr. Spencer. He asked for and deserved his fate."

"Don't remind me. I'm gonna have nightmares for a month. Guy was smart, though, hiring a stage magician to make the theft work. Not even Leon suspected that the Chest had never left the exhibit area, much less the Museum."

"He chose the WRONG stage magician. I did some reading up on the late, UN-lamented Blaise Mouchon. He's wanted in several deaths involving his magic show on three continents. Sacrifices to demonic agencies to get the knowledge and power he wanted, I suspect." Lara sipped her milk, having finished off the juice.

"Well, as a friend of mine once said, 'mess with the bull, you get the horns.' In any case, I'm done with the whole mess...well, except for one thing. What happened when I took the sword from you? What did you see?"

"I saw you, wearing a suit of gold and silver armor." Lara rubbed her temples. "That's all I can remember."

"I saw you under water. I can't remember if you were drowned or not, but you didn't look it. What was it? A dream? A vision?"

"It sounds familiar...more like a lost memory." Lara shook her head. "I'll be glad to go home after all this. New Orleans may never be the same for me again."

"Same here. Our flight leaves tomorrow at nine at night. Want to do any sightseeing, salvage what's left of our trip?"

"Not really. I'd rather stay in, if that's alright with you."Lara gave David a mischievous smile.

David rubbed his chin in mock contemplation. "Alright, Lara, but on one condition."

"Name it."

David grinned. "Put on that wench's outfit again."

Lara grinned right back. "You've got yourself a deal."


	15. Out Of Memory Error

**Out Of Memory Error**

###### **By C. Mage**

Lara peered into the room beyond, at once alarmed and curious at the same time. The room in front of her was noisy, filled with the sounds of clashing steel, strange smells and smoke from several fires. Her hands felt sweaty as she steeled herself, wishing that she had some protection from the horrors that lay ahead, and she walked in, fixing her eyes upon the architect of this chaos.

David looked back at her and grinned. "It's almost ready!"

"You've been saying that for the past four hours." Lara looked around at the mess in the kitchen: cans of tomato paste, white paper that once held meat from the butcher, seeds and discarded stems from vegetables and a row of small condiment containers lined up like a firing line next to the stove. All four burners had been used for sautéing peppers and browning meats, with the large burner currently used to bear a large soup pot with a thick red substance bubbling within it. "'Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble...'"

"Now don't you back out of it now. You promised you'd let me try out my chili recipe."

"What did you call it again?"

"'David's Diabolic Dallas Chili.' Old recipe from a friend I used to know in Dallas, Texas. They hold regular chili cookoffs down there, you know."

Lara peered into the bubbling concoction. The spicy smell drove her back. "I'm lucky the well is full of water."

"Now, come on, it's not that hot. I even toned down the recipe for you stuffy Brits, just to make sure you can handle it, what with your delicate constitutions and all."

"Stand still, sweetheart, and I'll show you just how 'delicate' I am." Lara pointed a finger at David, aiming it like one of her Colt .45s."I can handle anything you can dish out."

"Well, that's good...because this'll test that for accuracy." David took out a bowl and ladled some of the thick chili into it. As he handed it to Lara, he asked with a beatific smile, "Need any bread? You know, to cut the taste?"

"No. Thank you." Lara took a spoon, dipped it into her bowl and swore she felt the metal spoon grow warm instantly. "Mind if I have a glass of water with this? I am thirsty, you know."

David smiled and went to get her a tall glass of ice water."You know, Lara, if you're not really hungry, I can just have it myself.Leftovers for a while."

_You mean a year. That's an easy five gallons on that stove! But you would like that just fine, would you, Mr.-I-can-take-it-and-you-can't?I'll show you. "Thank you for your consideration, Dave, but I wouldn't want you to think that I wasn't capable of a little culinary adventure. But I wish you wouldn't have made such a mess. You've got tomato sauce on the floor, meat juices on the cutting block..."_

"I'll clean it all up, okay? I promise, Mannfred won't have to worry about a thing." David brought back the glass, a large plastic glass filled to the top with a quart of water and ice. "There. Feel better?"

Lara smiled back at David rebelliously. "Yes, thanks ever so much."

David went back to the stove. Lara looked down at the chili nervously. She swore she could hear it say, _Come on, Lara, dig in. I won't hurt you too much. After all, just because I can peel dried paint off concrete and force you to get skin grafts for your mouth and throat doesn't mean I'm ALL bad..._

The phone rang and Lara got up, relieved at the small reprieve."I'll get it!" she said a little too loudly and went straight for the phone. David turned around just in time to see Lara's left foot hit a patch of spilled tomato paste in exactly the wrong way. He watched in shock as Lara slipped and fell backwards with a cry or surprise, the back of her head hitting the edge of the table with a loud THUNK!! By the time the state of emergency could register in David's brain, Lara was lying on the ground...very still.

"HOLY...!!!" David ran over to the phone, picked it up and fairly screamed into the phone, "She'll call you back later!" then hung up and ran over to Lara. He reached back to feel the wound and his hand came back covered with blood. _Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit...!!! He ran to the phone and dialed the operator._

"Yes, may I help you?"

"This is an emergency! Send medics to Croft Manor immediately!The lady of the house is severely hurt, with a wound to the back of her head. I need the medics here NOW!!"

"Stay on the line, sir. Give the full address and district."

"I should've never made that chili..." David said morosely as Lara was wheeled to an ambulance.

"Steady on, sir. Head wounds always look worse than they really are." The medic, a young man named Derek, patted David's back comfortingly."In my opinion, she may have a concussion, but odds are that it's not serious," he added as they walked through the main doors out into the courtyard.

"I shouldn't have made such a mess...it's all my fault." At that point, David felt lower than sewer sludge.

"Come on, sir, chin up. It'll be right as rain, you'll see.Come on, leg up," he added as he helped the stretcher into the ambulance.David got in and sat down, looking at Lara, strapped to a board and a neck brace between her chin and collarbone, then looked away. He wiped his eyes and sniffed at the ambulance drove away to the hospital.

The next few days were agonizing.

After Lara had gone into the emergency room, David called Mannfred to tell him that they were at the hospital. Mannfred had replied, "Don't worry about the mess, Master David."

"It was the mess that did this." David added bitterly and hung up. After hemming and hawing for a few more minutes, he began the unlovely task of calling Lara's father to explain what had happened.

After hearing the story, Lord Henshingly Croft simply said, "We'll be there," and hung up. David felt even lower after hearing the tone in his voice, hard and disapproving. He didn't know the numbers of any other members of the Croft family, so he found a seat and sat down to wait.

Four hours later, Lord Henshingly Croft arrived, along with Lara's aunt Cordelia and her uncle James...and Charles Croft. David somehow found the strength to look them in the eyes as they approached. "Lord Henshingly Croft," he acknowledged.

"David. It is good to see you again. I would've preferred other circumstances, but..." He gave David a hearty hug and David felt better. He turned to Cordelia, who was valiantly trying not to cry as she took David's hands.

"It's not your fault, Dave."

"The hell it isn't!"

"For pity's sake, David!" James said curtly. "I somehow doubt that you spilled tomato sauce in an attempt to kill Lara by deducing where she would place her feet to walk to the phone. The only thing you are guilty of, David, is being a little overzealous when it comes to food preparation. Now sit down, I know this is quite difficult for you."

David nodded and sat down. A good thing, too, since his legs were close to giving out on him because of all the pacing he'd done since he called Lara's father. "I just...it's just so petty. I mean, she manages to survive all sorts of plots and traps only to be felled by..."

"Dave, go get some sleep. You've been through a lot."

"I'm staying RIGHT HERE, Cordelia. I want to be here if...WHEN Lara wakes up."

"Excuse me?"

David opened his eyes, pulling himself awake. He sat up in the chair he'd been occupying. "Yes?" Next to him, Lord Henshingly Croft also stirred.

"Miss Croft is awake and wants to see you."

David nearly exploded with relief and got out of his chair so fast, it seemed as if the chair he'd occupied was an ejection seat. Lord Henshingly got up and addressed the doctor. "How is she?"

"She's just fine. A mild concussion, we'll need to keep her under observation for a few days, but when the swelling goes down, she'll be fine."

David silently sent a 'thank you' Upwards and followed Lara's father to the hospital room. When the door opened and he heard Lara's voice, he sighed in relief.

"What happened, auntie?'

"You fell and hit your head, dear girl. But you'll be alright soon. You just need to get some rest." Cordelia smiled, kissing Lara's hand. "We're just so glad you're alright." She turned as the door opened and smiled even wider as Lord Henshingly and David walked in. "I know that someone here is VERY happy to know that you're all right."

"Father!" Lara said happily and Lord Henshingly leaned over to hug her.

"My precious daughter...I'm so happy you're well."

David was close to tears as he moved up to the bed. Lara looked at him as he took her head and stroked it. "Lara, I'm sorry...I promise, no more marathon cooking in the kitchen."

"Well...that's all well and good, but..." Lara looked at David for a long time.

"But what?"

"...who ARE you?" Lara finished, mystified.

"It's David, dear," Cordelia said gently. "the man you've told us so much about."

"How could I have done that?" Lara turned to David. "I've never seen you before in my entire life!"

David backed away a step and sat down.

On the floor.

HARD.

David and the rest of the family got up from their chairs in the waiting room as the doctor came forward. "Doc, what is it?"

"Textbook case of partial amnesia."

"AMNESIA??" Cordelia asked. "Then how did she remember us and not David?"

"Partial amnesia, Lady Croft. She remembers everything up to a particular date, more than a decade ago. The last thing she remembers is being on a plane and then the plane going down. Everything after that is a blur."

"The crash in the Himalayas..." Lord Henshingly said thoughtfully.

"Correct. The impact must've found some connection with that crash and erased her memory after that event, quite possibly to spare her more trauma."

"Will she ever get her memory back?"

"Hard to say. The human mind is still a mystery to us, Lord Henshingly Croft. She may get her memory back five seconds, five days or five years from now...or she might never get it back. Usually, certain stimuli can regenerate loss of memory; going someplace important to her, a face, a smell, even another blow to the head."

"We'll pass on the last idea, thank you. Can she come home?" David asked hopefully.

"Certainly. The nurse is bringing her down now." The doctor turned as he heard the elevator chime and the doors open...

David blinked as Lara sat calmly in the wheelchair. He was sure that Lara would kick up another fuss, considering the way she acted the LAST time she was in a wheelchair, but she was very calm and composed as she approached them. When the wheelchair stopped, Lara stood up slowly and regarded her family and David. "I wish to go home now, Father."

"Certainly. Come along, Lara, we'll take you back to the manor." Lord Henshingly walked to the limo and the chauffeur opened the door. The family dispersed to their own vehicles and David started to climb in behind Lara when he felt the door hit him in the side.

"OW!"

Lara looked up at David. "Father, is this...man...coming home with us as well?"

Lord Henshingly sighed. "I have a great deal to tell you, daughter."

By the time Lara's father finished, they were driving up the road to Lara's manor house."I can scarcely believe it. Surviving a plane crash? Going out into heaven-knows-what to search musty old graves for treasure? Becoming an archaeologist?" Lara shook her head. "Sounds more like grave robbery to me.And he and I were together? Him?" Lara looked at David. "I had no taste."

David felt like sinking into the floor.

"Now, Lara, don't be so hard on David. You yourself told me how dear he was to you, how many times you've rescued each other over the time you've known each other."

"He's an AMERICAN," Lara said in disgust.

"He's a MAN, daughter, a man of character and integrity. There are few of his like around and I approve of him. You will, too, once you remember your lost years."

"I'm not sure I want to. He sounds like an uncultured..."

"Are you calling me a liar, daughter?!" Lord Henshingly demanded. 

Lara shut up.

"Look, Lord Henshingly, maybe I'd better..."

"David, I think very highly of you, so unless you'd like that to change, please be quiet and allow me to have a talk with my daughter."

David shut up.

"Daughter, I know this is going to come as a shock to you, but after that plane crash in the Himalayas, you became a different person. You were self-sufficient, bold, reckless, driven to excellence in all things, particularly archaeology. You were your own woman, and you lived life to its fullest. Don't put that aside now. It's important that you embrace this if you are to become that woman once again."

Outside, Lara nodded in agreement, but inside, she had serious doubts. _Maybe I don't WANT to become that woman again, if it means I put myself in horrible situations and associate with such horrid people. I'd be much better off being the way I am now. "I will try, Father."_

"And always remember, Lara...I love you very much, no matter what."

"I love you too, Father." _What a relief. If I decide NOT to return to my old life, Father won't be angry with me._

"And here we are."

The limo stopped and everyone got out. Lara looked up at the huge manor house and at the grounds. "My...what a huge place! And this is mine, you say?"

"Every room."

"Good! I can't wait to explore it! Ta ta, father!" Lara strode off towards the front doors as David and Lord Henshingly watched. David sighed.

"What's wrong, David?"

"What's wrong? The woman I love is now a lost memory and the replacement is a snotty little...BRAT. She doesn't remember a thing about me and would rather lose me in a crowd than put up with me."

"Have hope, David. She may come to her senses soon."

"I hope I'm still around to appreciate it." David walked towards the front doors. As he did, he looked up at the grand manor that used to look so much like home.Now it looked more like Castle Frankenstein.

Lara walked out of the kitchen. "Such a grand place! I do believe I'm going to like it here!" Her eyes came to rest on David as he walked in the doors. "And who let YOU in?"

David discovered that he was going to have to exercise a great deal of self-restraint for the foreseeable future. "I live here, Lara. I do have a set of keys to this place, you know. You gave them to me yourself."

"I was right. I had no taste." Lara sighed. "But I did promise Father that I would TRY to remember my old life, so I guess I shall have to endure having you as my guide down Memory Lane." Lara passed by a mirror in the hall, stopped, then looked at herself in horror. "I look DREADFUL! My hair's a wreck and...oh, this will not do at all!" She turned to David again. "What was your name again?"

David felt as if someone put a few hundred pounds of lead in his stomach. "David. David Connors."

"Well, Mr. Connors, I suppose there is some evidence of our association together? Pictures, photographs, that sort of thing?"

"Better. Videos."

"All right, then. I'm going upstairs to freshen up. I'll be down in, oh...make it two hours. It'll take that long to fix this travesty...did the _old_ Lara ever use anything sensible, like makeup or a proper conditioner?"

"No," David gritted. "She didn't need help to look beautiful."

"That's the problem with you Americans. You have such low standards." Lara went to the stairs and walked up the steps. "Where is that butler of mine? BUTLER!! What is his name, Mr. Connors?"

"Mannfred," David said, a subtle edge in his voice.

"MANNFRED!! Where are you??"

Mannfred walked out of the northern upstairs hall. "Yes, Lady Croft?"

"There you are! You're going to have to do much better than that if I'm going to keep you on. Age is no excuse for tardiness. Now, I want you to make up a proper meal, and have it ready in three hours.Something befitting my station and new standards. Ring when dinner is ready. I'll be in my room." Lara then strode upstairs to her room.

Mannfred sighed. "Your warning did not do the matter full credit, Master David. I think I prefer the old Lady Croft better."

"So do I, Mannfred. So do I."

Lara came back down the stairs three hours and forty-one minutes later. She was wearing a modest frock with her hair laying loose and wavy down her back, makeup on her face. Lara felt MUCH better."Mannfred!!"

The old butler came out of the kitchen. "Yes, Lady Croft?"

"Why did you not ring for me?"

"I did, my Lady. Several times."

"Then get a bigger bell." Lara had heard the bell, but she was loath to come down to see David any sooner than was absolutely necessary."And what is for dinner?"

"Your favorite, Lady Croft. Filet Mignon, Caesar salad with prawns, baked potato with garlic and sour cream and bread."

"Hmmm...I suppose you made some for that Connors person as well."

"Yes, Lady Croft."

"I suppose it can't be helped." Lara walked into the dining room where David was already serving himself. "Mr. Connors!"

David looked up. "Holy...what happened to YOU?"

"What? Did my old self never put on makeup before dinner?"

"Not with a PAINT-SPRAYER, she didn't. You look like a raccoon caught in an exploding paint store!"

"Hmpph!!" Lara sat down to eat. "I don't see why I should send you away immediately!"

"Before your little accident, Lara put me in charge of the finances because she wanted more time to write her books. All of your accounts have _my_ name on them as well. So unless you want to wade through paperwork to find out who to pay to keep the electricity and other bills..."

"Balderdash! Why would I have done something STUPID like that??The idea! An AMERICAN in charge of my money! So tell me, Mr. Accountant, how much money have I LOST while under your sterling care?"

"Actually, I've done some investing and your fortune is up 18% over the fiscal year, with a great deal of it in high-yield CDs, T-bills and stock in some local businesses."

Lara stared at David. "So...what am I worth?"

_At the moment, not a damn thing. "Just eat. Your food's getting cold. I'll tell you later."_

"Oooh!!" Lara stamped her foot and began to eat, grudgingly admitting that her meal was quite good. _I'll get rid of this man, but I'll keep the butler around for a while longer..._

"Ready for your walk down Memory Lane?" David asked, managing a smile.

"Let's just get this over with..." Lara muttered.

David frowned. "Fine, just for that, I'm not sharing my popcorn with you." David turned down the lights in the den and hit the PLAY button on the remote. "We met while picking up an amusing little trinket that supposedly could give a vampire even more power, called the Chalice of Cain," he said as a clip of Lara giving a lecture on the Chalice at Oxford."We were at odds for a while..."

"THAT I can well believe."

"...but after I saved your life when a cathedral nearly fell on us, we became friends. Not good ones, yet, though...that didn't happen until after I took you out on a date in New York at a museum."

"A museum? How boring."

"Actually it wasn't that boring. Someone tried to kill us both." The scene on the TV switched to a news clip of David, carrying an unconscious Lara and leaving the museum. Later on, a news clip on Lara and David accepting a commendation from the mayor.

"Does everyone want to kill us?" Lara asked, horrified.

"Not EVERYONE..." David filled her in on the life she had before David...luckily, Lara kept her video files about lectures, university appearances and personal documentation well organized.Everything from her school days at the university to articles and documentaries about the discoveries she made, including finding evidence of the Himalayan Yeti, the Ark of the Covenant and the Scions of Atlantis."After those victories, you went on to write books about your experiences, where you made the bulk of your fortune."

"You never did tell me how much I'm worth now."

David sighed. "You're worth about...maybe four hundred million right now."

Lara's eyes widened. "Four...HUNDRED...MILLION???"

"A lot of it is in property, stocks and investments, but yeah, that much. The books you wrote are up on that shelf. Feel free to look over your work, it might help you remember. Now, from the time we went on to other adventures, with the Dagger of Xian, but mostly dealing with some rather powerful individuals who would've liked to see you occupying space in the Croft Family plot. Jacqueline Natla, Nick Maas, Leo Daglione...but we managed to survive them all." David cut off the video and turned up the lights.

"That's quite a history you've shown me, Mr. Connors. I shall have to take some time and read some of these books and review my old self's adventures. But it's getting late and I'm quite tired."

"Sure, no problem..." David set down the remote and walked over to Lara. "I'll see you in the morning, then. Good night, Lara."

"Good night, Mr. Connors."

David went to the guest bedroom and closed the door behind him._Who knows...? Maybe I got through to her tonight, at least a little. And you've gotta start somewhere._

_ _

Lara got to her room and closed the door. It all felt so surreal to her; losing the memory of an entire life. "Amazing...I must have changed so much..."

The phone rang and Lara picked it up. "Hello?"

"Lara! Dear girl! How are you?"

Lara smiled as she remembered the voice. "Juliano! How have you been?"

"It must be so terrible.Charles told me all about it. Isn't it so strange?"

"Yes, not to mention troublesome."

"Yes, Charles told me all about that American living under your roof. Can't you just give him the boot?"

"I can't. I apparently gave him a great deal of control over my finances. I can't legally get rid of him."

"Well, dear girl, I can have my lawyers look into it in the morning. In the meantime, we have a lot to catch up on. I've been hearing a lot about your adventures."

"Yes, indeed. But I'm putting an end to that. I'm well-off enough to live in comfort for the rest of my life; that Connors fellow is good for THAT, at least."

"Lara, do you remember that little ski lodge up in the Alps?Just the two of us?"

Lara smiled dreamily. "How could I forget?"

She and Juliano spent the next two hours talking on the phone...and planned to talk again.

Two weeks later.

David was pacing the floor and very close to climbing the walls. Lara had been gone the entire weekend, no phone call, no note, no nothing to explain why or where. Mannfred was unable to provide help, since Lara was not very communicative to him either, unless it was giving orders to him. David had also noted a drastic change in Lara's spending habits.She had developed an interest in high fashion, spending thousands of dollars for new clothes and tossing out all her old clothes. She also had "invested" in five brand-new sports cars, "simply because I needed something to drive around town in," as she put it. Lara was also changing a great deal about the house. As David waited, workmen were out dismantling the assault course and putting in a pair of tennis courts! Her gun cabinets had been cleaned out and all of her weapons were sold off to make room for the extra closet space.

David was learning Latin as a result...he was beginning to understand the nuances of the words _persona non grata._

He heard a car skid to a stop in front of the house and stormed out to find Lara and a handsome man exiting the car. "...can't believe it!A yacht with gold fittings?"

"Ridiculous, isn't it? One can't even BEGIN to..." The man's voice trailed off as he saw David come outside. "Oh look, the gardener.Here, my good man, kindly park Lady Croft's car in the garage and give it a good cleaning." He tossed the keys to David and started to walk through the main doors.

David held up a hand and the stranger stopped, waiting. David smiled, moved his arm back and hurled the keys into the water fountain. The man watched as the keys made a SPLOOSH as they hit the water, then turned back to David.

"Now who the devil do you...wait. YOU must be David."

"Charmed. Who the hell are you??!"

"I am Juliano Montese, of the Liverpool Monteses."

David ignored him. "Lara, where have you been?? I've been worried sick...!"

"Mr. Connors, kindly leave."

David stopped. "WHAT?"

"Juliano and I have some business to discuss, so if you will excuse us..." Lara waved him off. David took one look at the both of them, threw up his hands and stormed off. Lara smiled and led Juliano into the house. "mmmmm...that was a lovely time. The Alps looked so wonderful."

"Yes...next time, we may have to actually go outside and do some skiing there."

Lara giggled. "Oh, I've had such a WONDERFUL time, Juliano. I just wish I could get rid of that Connors person."

Juliano frowned. "I have some bad news for you, Lara. According to what my lawyers told me, David is part owner of your investments, thanks to some misguided generosity on your part."

"You mean...I'll never be free of him? There's no way to get my money back?"

"There is one way.According to the contracts you signed with David Connors, if one of you dies, the other will inherit the entire fortune."

"Drat the luck. That Mr. Connors is far too healthy to..."Lara's voice trailed off. "You aren't thinking of...?"

"It's either that or live with him the rest of our lives."

"Our?"

"Yes." Juliano went down on one knee and held up a small box. "Lara Croft, will you marry me?"

"Marry? Why, Juliano, this is so sudden!! I can't answer now!"

"But think of it, Lara...my considerable fortune mingled with your own. We'll be billionaires! And all we have to do is get rid of one pesky American and it's all ours. No one will question you; you're one of the richest women in England! No one will imagine that you had a motive.All I have to do is furnish us with an alibi, and David Connors will trouble us no more! Think of it!" he said insistently.

Lara looked into Juliano's eyes, saw the energy there, and thought about all the problems she could rid herself of if David died. No more having to account to him about the way she lived... Lara saw all the money and said, "Juliano, I accept."

"The marriage proposal or putting David out of our misery?"

Lara smiled.

David came in later after seeing Juliano leave. "Lara? We've gotta talk."

"About what?" Lara asked idly. "I don't see why I have to justify myself to you."

"Dammit, Lara, this is serious! You're spending your fortune like it was Monopoly money. What about that offer from your friends at Cambridge? I thought they said they might have a cure for your condition."

"I'm not sure...it seems kind if risky to me."

"Yeah, and I just figured out why. You don't want to return to your old life, do you?" David said accusingly.

"Now, David...that's a pretty strong..."

"Spare me." David had reached the breaking point. "You don't give a shit about me, or your old life, or your family, or ANYTHING. All you care about is that Juliano creep! That, and spending money. Well, I've had it. You are a shallow, superficial little girl in a woman's body and I'm tired of it. If you want to ruin your life, go ahead. I don't care anymore." David said the words, but he knew that the last sentence was a lie. "I'm going back to New York tomorrow. When you finally come to your senses, give me a call."

Lara stood there as David vented his disappointment and rage, unable to speak. The force of his emotion took all thoughts of defending herself away. She couldn't even manage a sound until well after he left the room. Lara stood there for a few moments, collecting herself. _I'd better call Juliano...HE'LL know what to do. She ran to the phone and dialed. A moment later, the other end picked up._

"Hello?"

"Juliano! We've got a problem! David's planning on leaving tomorrow!"

A moment of silence, then, "Then we've got to do it tonight."

"Tonight!! But, Juliano..."

"We have no choice. If he leaves now, he'll take your money away from you. Do you want that??"

"Juliano, I..."

"Do you want that?!"

"No...no, of course not." Lara felt sick. _This wasn't the way it was supposed to happen! It's all moving too fast..._

"Then we have to do it tonight. I'll be there in five hours.Don't worry about anything, Lara, I'll take care of you. I'll take care of everything. All you have to do is stay in your room. It'll look like a burglar broke in and David surprised him. Nothing will go wrong."

"A...alright. I love you, Juliano."

Click.

Lara hung up the phone and curled up on the bed_. All I have to do is stay here. Juliano will take care of everything. He'll take care of everything. She lay there for a long time, waiting and afraid._

Waiting for the gunshot that would solve everything.

David walked through the foyer that night, looking around at the dim halls. He took another drink of his beer and walked to the Pool Room, sitting down on a bench next to the water. He thought back to the times that he and Lara had enjoyed chasing each other around the house...gone now. David looked up to the ceiling and growled, "How the hell could you do this to me, God? How could you put two women I love in my life and then take them away from me again? You BASTARD..." He finished off the beer and threw the empty can into the water, wiping his lips. "I don't care what you do to me from now on, just don't let me fall in love again, okay?The women I fall for don't deserve what you'll put them through!"

Then he heard a crash from upstairs.

Some of the haze in his mind cleared and he instinctively reached for the gun in his shoulder holster. At that point, he realized that he wasn't WEARING a shoulder holster. David cursed and went to the door. The house was quiet for a few minutes longer, then came another crash.

The attic.

David crept up the stairs to his room, taking each step slowly and carefully. He successfully got to his room and opened up the door.

As soon as he turned on the light, he knew his room had been rifled. David noted the dresser, the desk...subtle signs were left behind that others couldn't see, but David's trained eye could. The shoes next to his dresser had been moved and the top drawer was open a little less than an inch. David went to the dressed and opened the third drawer from the top.

His gun was missing.

Lara heard the shattering glass and it startled her, letting a small cry escape from her lips. She froze, as if she had woken up from a nightmare and was unsure if she'd escaped it yet. Then came a louder crash and she tried to hide her head underneath the quilt.

Then it occurred to her. _It's Juliano._

She suddenly felt safer and she got out of bed, her curiosity getting the better of her. She sneaked to the door and opened it just a crack. Through the sliver, she could see David walking away from her door, heading for the stairs leading to the attic.

David crept up each stair, pausing ten seconds between each step. He slowly reached for the door and opened it a few inches.

That's when the hand grabbed him and pulled him inside.

He was thrown to the floor and the light in the attic came on, momentarily blinding him. A foot connected with his midsection and he rolled onto his back. When his eyes cleared, he saw Juliano looking down at him. "Good evening, Mr. Connors. Out for a stroll?"

"You bastard..."

"Surprised?"

"Not really." His eyes focused completely and he saw the guns in Juliano's hands.

"Try not to move, Mr. Connors. I still may not kill you, but try not to pressure me to do anything you won't enjoy. Back up against that wall, Connors. Nice and slow."

"Lara's not going to like the idea of shooting inside the house. She hates the noise now."

"She'll like it THIS time. Once you're dead, she'll have all her money back."

"So? Lara's not obsessed with money, unlike you."

"That's what YOU think, Mr. Connors."

David's back was now against the cold stone. "I wonder if she'd be so happy once she found out about you."

"She knows everything she needs to know about me."

"That's right, David."

David's head spun to see Lara Croft walking over to Juliano and slipping her arms around him. The sight of Lara and Juliano together made David's head spin even more. "What the hell are you DOING?"

"I'm cashing you out, Mr. Connors. I'm through with all your attempts to force me to become that...that _other_ Lara. I'm _this_ Lara Croft, and that's how I'm going to stay, at least until Juliano and I get married.Then I'll be more than happy to become Lady Lara Montese."

David found himself choking, but he still managed to speak."You knew about this? You knew that he was planning to kill me?"

"Of course I knew...we came up with the plan together, after all."

"You mean, when he came up with the plan and you followed along." David spat.

"No, we came up with it together."

"Yeah...that's what all con-artists want you to think."

Lara narrowed her eyes as Juliano said, "That's enough talk, Mr. Connors. It's time to die."

"Wait, Juliano."

Juliano turned to look at Lara in surprise. "Why?"

"I want to hear what he has to say."

Juliano's cool demeanor began to fray. "Why? All he's going to do is lie to save his own skin."

"Sounds a lot like you, Mr. Montese...or is that just the name you're going by now?"

Both Lara and Juliano turned back to David. "What?" Lara asked.

"Juliano Montese, also known as Juliano Cartwright, alias Julian Mancuso, alias Julian Banks. Montese is your real name, but you've used those other names before, haven't you, while you've been running your scams."

"Scams??" Lara asked. Juliano frowned as her embrace began to weaken.

"Yeah, Lara, since he's going to kill me, you might as well know the man you're about to marry. He's been married before.Four or five times. Police are looking for him all over Europe. He weds rich women, particularly the old and the vulnerable, and marries them for their money.Once they're married and he has control of the assets, he divorces them and spends the money or gambles it away...he certainly got lucky with you, Lara, you're still young enough for him to enjoy you before he gets rid of you."

"Where did you get your information, Mr. Connors? From some television show?" Juliano asked.

"That's right, Lara couldn't have told you since she really doesn't seem to listen when I told her about myself. I guess she lost interested before the part where I told her that I used to be a New York cop, and then a private detective. By the way, Lara, I've come to a revelation about why he wants me dead. He told you that the only way to get all your money back was to kill me, right? Well you're WRONG. All you needed to do was ask me. I bet Juliano never told you THAT part, did he?But then, those are the breaks when you think everyone is as money-hungry as you, Lara."

Juliano shot a dirty look to Lara, about to ask her how she could've neglected to mention that pertinent piece of data when he noticed her looking at him with less-than-adoring looks. "Is any of what he's saying true?"

"Not a word. He's just making all this up. It's not going to help you, Mr. Connors. I think we can all agree that Mr. Connors is quite the storyteller, but it's not going to hel..."

Juliano suddenly stopped as an aluminum baseball bat slammed into his gut, causing him to drop his guns. While Juliano had been talking, David had inched over to a box that he himself had put in the attic a long time ago. It was a box that held many personal items from his office...and he used to enjoy playing baseball on the precinct baseball team. Lara leaped back with a short scream as David lunged at the stunned Juliano, forcing him back towards the entrance to the attic. They both tumbled down the stairs, grappling with each other, parting only when they hit the bottom of the stairs and made hard contact with the banister behind them.Juliano got to his feet first, breathing hard, and he savagely kicked David in the midsection twice. David tried to roll away from the beating, managing to get to a crouch when the foot came at him for the third time.

Juliano's triumphant smile vanished as David caught the ankle with both hands. David looked up at Juliano, spared him a brief smile, then stood up and pulled upwards with all his strength. Juliano yelled as he pitched over the banister, flipping completely and landing hard on the next level of the stairway below. David looked over the edge. Juliano had landed on his feet hard, but he was still able to balance himself and stay upright. David yelled and leaped over the banister, ready to give him the beating he had wanted to give Juliano for the longest time...

A shot rang out and a bullet entered the floor by David's feet.He stopped and both men looked up to see Lara Croft, holding Juliano's discarded guns in both hands and pointing the one in her left hand at David. "Don't MOVE, Mr. Connors, or I shall be forced to put a rather large bullet into your brain."

David backed up as Juliano got to his feet, swaying slightly."Haven't you heard a word I've said? This guy's a con artist and a murderer!"

"It doesn't matter...I KNOW Juliano, he's..."

"You mean you knew Juliano. That was over twelve years ago, and he's not the charming man you knew. He's a snake in an Italian suit and deep down, you know it. You'll never trust him the way you trusted me, never love him the way you loved me."

"I can live with that.," Lara said levelly.

"Then go ahead and do it, Lara. But you'd better use _both_ guns...because if you don't kill me right off, I'm not going to give you another chance."

"Don't tell me, that after all the time we've had together, you'd kill the woman you loved?" Lara said mockingly, cruelty turning her hideous as she brought up the other hand.

"If you pull those triggers, Lara, you'll prove to me that the woman I loved is gone."

Lara sighted in with both guns. "You're right, Mr. Connors, this is MUCH better..."

Juliano frowned as he heard Lara's voice trail off. "Well, Lara, what are you waiting for? This is the moment you've been waiting for, to get your riches back."

"Juliano, darling?"

"Yes, Lara?"

"SHUT THE HELL UP."

Juliano's face went slack as he looked up to find that Lara was now pointing the guns at HIM. "But, Lara darling..."

"Don't you 'Lara darling' ME, you reprehensible cad. I ought to have my head examined for listening to you for longer than a second."

"Lara? Is that...?" David asked, hope rising in him.

"Yes, Dave...and I have a lot of apologizing to you, not to mention a few other people, but right now, I think you'd better call the constables."

When Lara took her eyes off Juliano, he saw his chance and bolted away, running down the stairs at high speed.

"Damn!" Lara fired both guns at Juliano, putting a bullet into his left leg. He tumbled down the stairs, but managed to get to his feet.David and Lara hotfooted it down the stairs as Juliano ran to the door...

And got a serving tray right in his face as he ran past the doorway to the kitchen.

David and Lara got to Juliano's unconscious form as Mannfred stepped out and looked at the warped silver tray. "I fear that the tray is ruined, Lady Croft."

Lara smiled. "And I fear I have no choice but to raise your salary."

EPILOGUE

David found Lara sitting by the pool, watching the water refract the light in shimmering waves of brightness across the ceiling."How are you doing, sunshine?"

"I feel wretched. I acted like a complete..."

"Bitch?" David said helpfully.

"Thank you. I became a money-hungry, shallow shrew. My family probably doesn't want to see me."

"Don't worry about it. They're an understanding bunch, although I still owe Chuckers for spilling the beans to that sociopath. Next time, I use plastique instead of paint in his car."

Lara laughed bitterly. "Don't remind me..."

"You're still hung up over almost shooting me, aren't you?"

"What do YOU think??" Lara wiped her eyes. "If I hadn't gotten my memory back...I don't know what I would've done. I think I would've gone mad if..." Lara turned to David. "How can you even look at me, knowing what I almost did?"

"That wasn't you, Lara. That was someone else, from a long time ago, and she's gone. She's been gone for a long time and she's not coming back. I don't blame you." David smiled. "You just weren't yourself lately."

"There's an understatement for you." Lara sighed. "Did Mannfred tell you that I'm going to see a doctor about this in the morning?"

"Yep. Do you want me to come along?"

"I...I'd like that, Dave. It might help."

"Then of course I'll come along. By the way, Lara, I've already called the contractors. They're going to dismantle the tennis courts and put the assault course back in...with a few added attractions I put in to make things more interesting."

"Thank you, David. I'm going to need to get back in shape...weeks of living well has given me some unnecessary weight to get rid of."

"Now, I thought we weren't going to discuss Juliano."

"Don't remind me. Ugh. To think I actually...I shall have to shower for a month to get the stench of him off me." Lara noticed David's look. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," David said, only halfway meaning it. "I also talked to a gent in New York who'll be able to bring your collection of firearms back up to snuff. The grenade launcher, too. Now come on, Lara...come to bed." David got up.

"In a few...I'll be up soon."

"Don't be too long...it's been some time since we've been together, after all." Dave walked out of the Pool Room and went upstairs.Lara looked down into the water and turned off the pool light. As she walked out, she turned back to the pool and, for a moment, she saw her reflection in the surface, illuminated by the overhead lights. The reflection looked distorted, but all too familiar.

For a moment, she thought she heard it say, "Come on, Lara, you can't get rid of me that easily...I'll always be here, waiting for you to return so you can..."

A slipper hit the water hard, scattering the reflection into a hundred ripples.

"No, I CAN get rid of you...and I have. You're a ghost, a shade that never will be._I_ am Lara Croft, not you, and I couldn't possibly be happier to get rid of you for good and for all. Goodbye, my other self.Kindly forget to write."

With that said, Lara Croft went upstairs. She didn't look back.


	16. If I Only Had A Hammer

**Oh, If I Had A Hammer…**

###### **By C. Mage**

(Note:I would like to warn those reading past that point that there are some unflattering references to blacks contained within this story and I want you to know that the words were not added to insult or offend you, but to illustrate the ignorance and the hatred of those using the words.If these words offend, I apologize.I don't mean to offend or insult anyone.

Also, I would like to recognize the talents of Adrien Stoutenburg, who wrote the story upon which the subject of this tale is based, and Mike Auer, who provided the events and the words of the legend depicted below.The retelling of the legend of John Henry is their creation, and I borrowed the tale to help develop this story.I do not claim in any way, shape or form that any of their work is mine.To the both of you, should you by chance read this story, you have my thanks for a compelling legend about a true American hero.)

Lara looked out the window of the train car and smiled. "I have to hand it to you, David, this is beautiful country. I'm glad we came." She lay back, dressed in her "working clothes:" bodysuit, shorts, leather jacket and boots.

"Yeah, no business, no tombs here in America. We can finally get a _break_." He leaned back in his seat and stretched. "The food in the dining car isn't that bad, either." He looked out the window to see the spring sun rising into the cloudless sky, illuminating hills, mountains and the occasional farm or town.

"So, David, tell me more about this friend we're going to see."

"His name is William Jackson. He's an ex-cop, like me, only he left the force under good conditions. Well, actually, to be honest, he left the force for family reasons. His mother got sick and he came back here to take care of her. William was never my partner, but there were times when it sure felt like it. Only knew him for just under a year, but we got to be good friends. In any case, his mother died about a week ago."

"I'm sorry, Dave."

"Don't be…I just wish I'd known sooner, I would've been able to come to the funeral, if nothing else, out of respect."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You do the best you can…one of the things I love about you." Lara caressed his cheek.

"Aw, shucks ma'am, 'tweren't nothin'…" His smile froze, then drooped as he saw three men enter the car, walking to a seat. "Ah, hell," he muttered.

"What's wrong?" Lara whispered.

"Don't turn around, but three skinheads just walked into the dining car." David kept his voice low, but Lara could still hear the bile rising. Lara adjusted the clear plastic menu so that its glossy surface acted as a crude mirror. All three of them were wearing leather jackets, jeans and Doc Martens, clearly establishing themselves as lords of their new domain as they sat down and looked at their menus.

Lara frowned as she set the menu down. "Are you sure they're not just into black leather and boots?"

"How many good-natured folk from country towns carry swastikas like they were trophies? One of them even has one shaved into his hair."

"Animals," she muttered. "Let's ask the waitress to send our food to our compartment."

"Sounds good to me." Then his face flickered. "We may not get the chance. I just remembered something."

"What?"

"Our waitress is black."

As if on cue, the waitress in question, a young black woman with long, reddish-black hair and a pressed attendant's uniform walked into the dining car, carrying a tray with David and Lara's food on it. As she passed the group of skinheads, one of them stuck out a foot to trip her.She was obviously expecting it, however, and nimbly stepped over the foot, walking briskly to David and Lara's table. "Nice move," David said with a hint of admiration.

The waitress smiled in return. "We get all kinds."

David checked her nametag. It read, "Angie." "Excuse me, Angie, but could we get our meals to go, take them to our compartment?"

"Sure. Just take the trays to your compartment and leave them outside when you're done."

"HEY! How about some SERVICE over here!?" One of the neo-Nazis slammed his palm on the table.

Angie gave Lara and David an apologetic look, then walked over to the three skinheads as if she had been relieved of her job as waitress and told to fill in for the train engine and start pulling the cars by herself. Lara started to pick up her tray, then noticed David eyeing the group. "What?"

"Looks like things might get messy."

One of the skinheads grabbed Angie's arm and twisted it cruelly. "Next time I call you over here, nigger, you'd better listen. Now take our orders."

Angie wrested her arm away and stolidly took pen in hand. "What would you like?"

"My friends and I will have the soup, three beers and make it quick. We don't have all day."

Angie took the orders and walked out as the three men started laughing at Angie's obvious discomfort. Lara noticed that David had that I'll-take-all-of-them-at-once look on his face again. "Dave, are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"Does it have anything to do with formally cleaning their clocks?"

"Something like that, yes."

"Yeah, I'm thinking that."

"Good. But I recommend waiting. I think Angie is perfectly capable of defending her own honor…up to a point. Do you think they might get nasty?"

"GOD, I hope so…"

Angie came back in, bearing a tray with three bowls of steaming hot soup and three bottles of beer. She set the tray down on a nearby table and delivered the food to the young men politely. As she set the beers on the table, one of the young men sipped the soup, then spit it out. "What is this? You made the soup too hot, you dumb bitch! I bet you did it on purpose!" He stood up suddenly and backhanded her, knocking her to the floor. All the men got up and the leader of the group took his beer and broke it over the edge of the table, spilling beer and broken glass over the floor. "You know what happens to uppity trash like you?" he yelled, raising a foot to stomp on Angie.

"Let's hope it's better than what happens to you."

All three of the skinheads looked up to see David pointing his Desert Eagle .50 at them. The undercarriage laser sight planted a small red dot on the leader's forehead. The leader lowered his foot slowly."Now back off, Laughing Boy, or I'll have to shell out a lot of money to this train company for the hole I'll make with a bullet from this gun…after it makes a nice, neat hole in that empty skull of yours. Let me know if I'm using words you can't understand."

Angie backed away from the men and got to her feet, making sure that she was not in David's way as she moved back. Lara Croft stood up and walked over to her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, gonna have to wash my arm, though, make sure it doesn't fester."

"You're a pretty big man, holding a gun on all of us…" the leader taunted. "Drop that gun and you wouldn't have a chance against me."

"I wouldn't have a chance against you?? You're a pretty big talker yourself when it's three to one odds. Boys, you're getting off at the next stop. We've got a long way to go and we don't need you three screwing up our vacation."

The leader spied Lara and grinned. "I'm gonna have a LOT of fun with you, girl…after I take care of your boyfriend."

"Dave," Lara said with a strange smile. "Please let me have some fun with these three."

David knew the tone of that voice and he knew that nothing short of shooting Lara himself would stop her from what she had in mind."Don't get too nasty, Lara, there are people whose job it is to clean this car."

"I'll make it quick."

David sighed. "Oh, go ahead." He lowered his gun as Lara walked towards the leader with a sway in her hips.

Angie ran over to David, stepping behind him. "What are you doing?? She's going to get killed!"

"Don't worry about Lara, Angie. She has this gift."

Meanwhile, Lara had walked up to the leader and placed her hands on his chest, slowly sliding them up to his shoulders and down again.The leader smiled. "Bitch, you've got some kinky ideas about how to have fun…"

"You haven't seen ANYTHING yet…you like a little pain with your fun?"

The leader grinned. "I'm going first, guys."

"Oh, don't be shy…" Lara purred. "How about all three of you?At once?"

"You think you can handle all of us?"

"Oh, I'm SURE I can manage…"

"Angie, close your eyes," David said, "this may get a little disgusting."

Lara suddenly shoved her knee up into the leader's crotch with enough force to lodge them in his throat. A moan came from the man's lips and for a moment, his friends thought that Lara was doing something else entirely.

By the time they realized differently, it was already far too late.

David watched as Lara made short work of the men, putting a foot deep into the solar plexus of the man on her right while simultaneously stunning the man on her left with a furious backhand. As the one on her right went to his knees, gasping like a beached fish, Lara went after the one on the left, planting two angry fists and an elbow every few punches into the man's body.

David made an expression of mock pain as Lara hit the man with a bone-jarring right hook. Angie just stared. "Are you okay, dear?" David asked sweetly.

"Just fine, sweetheart!" Lara said brightly as she turned her attention to the one on her right. He was recovering, but not nearly fast enough to defend himself. Lara considered beating him to a pulp, but decided that that would be too messy and simply hit the main squarely on the nose, bringing forth a CRUNCH. The skinhead dropped and folded like a dirty shirt.

Lara turned her back on them and walked to where David sat, bending over and kissing him on the forehead. "How lucky I am to be in love with a man who trusts me around other men."

"How lucky I am to be in love with a woman who can kick butt as well as I can, if not better."

Angie walked over to the three men as the door to the dining car opened and the train's security appeared. "Geez, what happened to _them_?" one of the men asked as he saw the skinheads unconscious or incapacitated on the floor.

Angie smiled. "Woman trouble."

Lara watched the police remove the skinheads from the train."What a waste of blood."

"Agreed. Let's hope that things are LESS exciting once we reach White Sulphur Springs."

"What's the town like?"

"Well, it was nice and peaceful the last time I came through, but that was before I really got to know William. Haven't been back since, so I'm not sure what to expect."

"Sounds about par for the course."

"I hope you're not insinuating anything by that. We get enough trouble without actively searching for it…I would like to get just one trip, just ONE, without having to run for our lives."

"I hate to say this, Dave, but we are destined to have an interesting life together. Now do be quiet and let's get back on the train."

They rented a car in Charleston, a yellow 1998 Acura NSX, and drove the rest of the way into White Sulphur Springs. Dave noted that with the onset of spring, the surrounding hills and trees were alive with colors from flowers and leaves. He felt more relaxed as they entered the town proper. As David remembered, the town wasn't very big…it only had two stoplights to its name. They passed over a river and went to a cozy little bed-and-breakfast not too far outside of town. Lara sighed contentedly as she saw the building. "It looks absolutely perfect, David."

"Not really…" Lara looked over at David, who pointed at the police car parked right outside. "A taste of things to come?"

Lara stopped the car as two men in uniform left the house.David noted, after a look at how they wore their uniform and carried themselves, that they had all the earmarks of "good ol' boys." The two officers stopped as they saw David and Lara drive up and get out of the car. "Is there a problem, gentlemen?"

The two men looked at Lara as if considering something, then saw David step out and their eyes immediately went to him. "You David Connors?"

_Oh for crying out loud…!!! "Yeah, I'm him. Who are you guys?"_

One of them went up to David, chewing on a toothpick. "I'm Sheriff Robertson, and this is my deputy, Boyd. Do you know a man named William Jackson?"

"Know him? I came out here to visit him." David's eyes turned to flint. "What happened to him?"

"Somebody burned down his home last night. The fire department's picking through the rubble looking for his remains," said the Sheriff as if he was talking about a double-parked car. "When was the last time you talked to him?"

David sat on the fender of the car, some of the wind knocked out of him. "William's dead??"

"Officers," Lara said, putting a hand on David's shoulder reassuringly, "we spoke to him just yesterday."

"Did he say anything that might have led you to believe that he was in danger?"

"No…he just said he was going to meet me here and that he had something to show me."

"Did he say what it was?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" Deputy Boyd asked insistently.

"Yes, I'm sure!" David suddenly yelled. "He didn't say anything about it!"

"Calm down, Mr. Connors, we're just…"

"…doing your jobs, I know. I used to be a cop myself. Sorry. Do you have any ideas who did it?"

"We've got some suspects, but there were no witnesses. By the time we got a call about it at 3 am, the fire department was already on the scene and the fire was nearly out, but the house had burned to the ground.We suspect murder by arson." Sheriff Robertson spit tobacco juice to his side without turning his head. "Some people jest don't want to come into the twentieth century, ya know?"

"No, but I'm beginning to," David said in an odd voice. If Sheriff Robertson or his deputy noticed the shift in David's tone, they didn't react to it. "Wait…if William was dead when you got there, how'd you know to find me here?" David asked, suddenly suspicious.

"We didn't. We're just checking around to see if maybe these good people saw something. Mind if we come back later to ask you a few questions?"

David nodded. They walked back to their car and drove away, leaving a cloud of dust as they went down the dirt road.

"Are you alright, Dave?"

"No, I'm not alright." David looked up at Lara. "Somebody murdered a good friend of mine, not to mention a fellow cop. Come on, we're going over to William's house."

"The police have probably been over there already."

"Yeah…well, maybe we can pick up something they missed. Let's go."

Lara and David got back into the car and pulled out, heading back into town. As they did, someone far up on a hill facing the bed-and-breakfast put down her binoculars and picked up a radio. She was barely sixteen and attractive, but her camouflage gear and serious manner spoke of motivations belonging to someone far older. "Jeffrey, this is Linna-Mae.You're raht, they took off as soon as the Sheriff came by. Yeah. All raht, I'm coming down." She stopped, then added, "You still taking Bobbi to the dance Friday?"

David got out of the car and just looked at the scene in front of him. Lara got out slowly as she got a full look of William's home…or what was left of it.

The wreckage of the house stood in the middle of a small plot of land that had once been a farm. Now, the fields were little more than wide expanses of grass, kept in check by the horses in a barn a hundred feet away. Outside, right next to the mailbox, a large cross of wood stood, blackened and burned. David went past the icon to what remained of the front door, not even giving it a look. Lara followed, more than a little disgusted by the sight. "Dave, who did this?"

"The same kind of people that we saw on the train, only they're given to wearing white hoods instead of Doc Martens."

"Skinheads? Here?"

"No…bigots."

"I don't understand it. I don't understand how people can hate another person just because of their skin color."

"I'm beginning to…and I think there's more to it than the fact the he was black. William found something, something BIG. Big enough to warrant him being killed."

"What do you mean?"

"Look around you. If they just wanted William dead, they would've burned down his house and his barn weeks ago. Nothing bothers a white bigot more than the sight of a black man more prosperous than himself. They burned the place down because they were trying to cover something up.Maybe because they were searching the place. It looks like they came here, looking for something. William came home and tried to force them out of his house, but they got the drop on him. They continued looking, but couldn't find what they were looking for, so they made it look like a common lynching. They weren't sure that what they were looking for was still here, but they didn't mind the idea of destroying it if they couldn't find it."

"Makes sense…but what IS this mysterious 'it' and where did William hide it?"

"I dunno, but I'm glad his mother isn't around to see this. She hated to see the house a mess." David attempted a smile, but it fell short."Let's just find what it is William's killers were looking for."

"Good luck. If it was here, they must have found it."

"Maybe…."

"If these people are as mean and sadistic as your tone makes them out to be, they may have done it out of spite alone, if not to cover up their crime."

David sighed. "You're right. But if it's not…" David snapped his fingers. "Wait. I've got it."

Lara turned to the door. "There's a car coming. Whatever it was, do you think it was hidden here?"

"No. In fact, I'm sure it's not here."

"Then let's go."

Lara and David walked out the door to find Sheriff Robertson getting out of his car and walking towards them. "What the hail are you doing?? This is a crime scene!"

"Sorry, Sheriff…I just wanted to see if…"

"Horseshit. I don't care who you are or whether you was a cop or not. Around here, _I'm_ the Law and you're trespassing."

"Constable, we just wanted to see…"

"You want to shut up, girl. Now, I've got a murder on my hands and I don't want no city folk playing Nancy Drew or Hardy Boy on me. I catch you anywhere near here again, I'm throw you in jail and feed you the keys! Now GIT!"

Lara and David silently went back to their car and drove off.

As they did, Lara asked, "Now what?"

"Something occurred to me back there. Willie was always a careful cuss, and something's been bugging me ever since we got here. The last time I talked to him, Willie was telling me a story about an old treehouse he made with some friends years ago. The funny thing was, it came right out of left field…maybe he was trying to tell me something."

"Do you know where he might have built the treehouse?"

"No…but if it was a friend of Willie's, then maybe someone around here knows who some of his friends might be." David exhaled. "That's pretty thin."

"Bloody bulimic, I'd say. But it's all we have. Tell me everything you know about any friends he might have had."

David closed his eyes. After a few minutes, they opened again.

"The only one I remember is a guy named…Freeman. Henry Freeman."

"Let's look him up. The White Pages in a town this size can't be THAT large."

David walked out of the diner, a smile on his face. "I got it.Fella in there said that Henry's a schoolteacher. There's only one school I saw in this town, so he must be there."

"Just can't get away from lessons, can you?"

"That's right, rub it in, why don'tcha?" David got into the passenger-side seat and they left the diner. "Henry should be easy to spot…he's the only black teacher there at the moment."

"That brings up something that's been rubbing at me. Doesn't it strike you as more than just coincidental that we run into some skinheads on the train and that Willie was killed in a manner associated with white supremacists?"

David thought about that for a moment. "And those guys were coming from the East, you think somebody's gearing up for a rally of some kind?"

"If so, I doubt it'll be the kind of events one takes a child to…unless they want the child to grow up to be a sociopath."

"This just keeps getting better and better." David rested his head in his hand. "I've seen hate crimes in New York…always the worst kinds. People hurting and killing other people out of fear and hatred.Lives wrecked. And blacks are made out to be targets from the start."

"Hate crimes are not new, Dave. Remember World War II? The different are always made out to be the enemy, it's as old as the Roman Empire."

"You'd think after all this time, humanity would learn a few things by now."

"Come on, Dave, don't go all Auntie Agony on me. Nobody can ask you to solve this kind of problem. Just focus on what happened to your friend, William."

"Yeah, yeah…it just bugs me sometimes what people will buy." Lara smiled gently. "That's my boy, my knight in shining armor."

"TARNISHED armor, maybe."

Lara sighed and drove on until the school came into sight. It looked extremely old, and Lara guessed that it had been around for at least a hundred years. Trees crowded the expanse of lawn that surrounded the school, almost hiding a large part of the building completely. Lara found an entrance into the parking lot and stopped the car, stepping out and looking around at the grounds, then back inside the car. "Are you coming?"

David nodded and stepped out of the car.

"Smells like a fresh summer day, doesn't it?"

David didn't answer as he walked towards the main doors of the building. Lara followed, worried.

"So, what were the causes of the Civil War?" A tall, wiry back man dressed in a button-down shirt, slacks and tie got up from his chair and walked to the front of the class. A wooden plaque with the words, "Mr.Freeman" sat on his desk.

"Freeing the slaves," spoke up one boy.

"Right…but that wasn't the only reason. Who else can tell me what the Civil War was about?"

Silence in the room, then a girl in the back of the room raised her hand.

"Yes, Claudette?"

"States' rights?" she said uncertainly.

"Right!" Mr. Freeman said with a smile and the girl exhaled in relief and a small amount of pride at being right. "Both issues were important, because the North was fighting for a moral issue while the South was disputing the North's right to say what rights the Southern States had, a civil issue. Both sides believed that they were right enough to go to war over it, and as a result, both sides fought hard to defend their beliefs.Now, can anyone tell me why the War took as long as it did? Anyone?"

A boy to the right raised his hand.

"Yes, Jeffrey?"

"The North was fighting on the South's home turf."

"Good, a very good reason. Anyone else?"

A knock at the door interrupted him and he looked to the window. Two strange faces looked in at him. "Kids, open your texts to page eighty-six and read the section called, 'Brother Versus Brother.' Mike, you take charge of the class until I return." He stood up and went outside the classroom. "Yes, can I help…" His voice trailed off as he got a good look at Lara Croft.

_Here we go… David thought._

"Lara Croft??" Henry Freeman shook Lara's hand reverently."Lady Croft, it's an honor to meet you. You may not remember, but I was at your seminar on the Mayans at Cambridge."

Recognition dawned. "Now I remember why you looked so familiar.It's very nice to see you again."

Henry turned to look at David. "And you are…?"

_Getting a little peeved at all this…!! "David Connors. Listen, we have to talk."_

"About…?"

"William Jackson."

The excited look on Henry's face died a quick and painless death. "What business is it of yours, Mr. Connors?"

"He was a friend of mine. We served together on the force."

Henry nodded. "Not here. Meet me at the Public Library at four.Reading Room 3." Without another word, he turned and went back into his class. Lara and David looked at each other.

"What was that all about?"

"I don't know…but I believe all semblances of our vacation have just been stripped away."

David sighed. "I knew it. So where do we go until then?"

"We go to the Library. I think a good hour or so there might give us some clues. I have a hunch that finding out more about the history of this area might help us find out what all this is about."

"Well, Dave, any luck?"

"Plenty." David set the stack of books down, picked one off the top and opened it. "Ever heard of John Henry?"

"Should I have?"

"I don't believe it. I actually know more about something in history than you do."

"Enjoy the feeling, Dave. It won't last." Lara quipped jokingly. "So, tell me about John Henry."

"Back during the days of the expanding railroad, there is the legend of a man named John Henry, a powerful black man who supposedly, after he was born, the first thing he reached for was a hammer hanging nearby. From that point on, his parents knew that he was destined to be 'a steel drivin' man.' There are other legends, more fanciful than the last.Some say that John was born full-grown..."

"OUCH."

"…and others say that he was actually born holding a hammer."

"DOUBLE ouch."

"He grew up tall and powerful, a regular Hercules, and he had a talent for driving steel. Even as a boy, he practiced swinging a hammer; not hitting things, just relishing the feel of it whooshing through the air. When he was old enough to talk, he told people that he was born with a hammer in his hand. He impressed the foreman of a railroad company with his skill, and gained a friend named, 'Li'l Willie,' who was the only man brave enough to hold the spikes while John was driving them. People would come from miles around to watch John Henry work. Driving spikes, drilling, any which way, John Henry could pound away for ten hours at a stretch and never miss a stroke."

Lara sat back in her chair, listening intently as David told the story. She found the story fascinating, and the way David animated as he told the story revealed that John Henry was a favorite character of David's as well.

"After he'd been at work a few years, John started using a twenty-pound hammer in each hand. It took six fast men to bring fresh drills and spikes to John as he worked, pounding each spike into the ground with a single stroke. John and Li'l Willie kept singing as they worked…"

"Does it say what they sang?"

David faltered. "Well, yeah…"

"Can you sing it for me?"

David looked extremely embarrassed. "Aw, come on, Lara…I've got no voice for singing."

"Just give it a try. For me."

He looked around, then said, "Well, it goes like, 'Hey boys, can't ya line 'em? Hey boys, can't ya line 'em? Hey boys, can't ya line 'em? Hey, Li'l Will, we gonna line some track.'" David stopped, cheeks red.

"Not bad, Dave. Maybe you should work for the railroad…or maybe join a choir."

"Very funny. In any case, the legend continues on that he met a girl named Polly Ann, and married her."

"Sounds like an ideal life."

"Not really. Every so often, ever since he was a boy, John Henry had a recurring dream about joining the railroad and that he would die with a hammer in his hand. He had the dream the night before he joined the railroad and had it again the night before he and Li'l Willie heard that the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad needed men to drive a tunnel through a mountain in West Virginia. He, Li'l Willie and Polly Ann went to West Virginia. Supposedly when John got to Summers County, he sized up the mountain in his way and commented, 'Looks soft. Hold up a drill there, Li'l Willie!' and drove a drill into the mountain with a seventy-pound sledgehammer, then settled to working with the two twenty-pound hammers.The workers had to keep buckets of water handy to pour on his hammers so they wouldn't catch fire. A few days later, a man from town came to visit the foreman, Captain Thomas Walters, and bragged that he had a steam-powered drill that could drill faster than any crew of men. Captain Walters said in response, 'I don't need any machine. My man John Henry can out-drill any machine ever built.' To that, the man from town said, 'I'll place a bet with you. You race your man against my machine for a full day.If your man wins, I'll give you my steam drill for nothing.' Captain Walters went to John and told him what the stranger had said. "Are you willing to race the steam drill?' John Henry said right back, 'A man's a man, but a machine ain't nothing but a machine. I'll beat that steam drill.'"

"Sounds like a boast."

"Not really. To John Henry, it was a fact and he knew it. He told Polly Ann, 'Don't worry, honey. I've got a man's heart in here,' he said, tapping his chest. 'All a machine has is a metal engine.' On the morning of the contest, the slopes around the tunnel entrance looked like the stadium seats at the SuperBowl. At one side sat the steam drill, with men loading pine wood into the furnace and giving it a final once over with grease and oil."

Lara Croft closed her eyes…

…and she was there.

She looked around, finding herself standing between the gleaming steam-drill and… Lara blinked. To her left stood a giant of a man, eight feet of ebony muscle, wearing boots and heavy pants with a thick belt around the waist. He stood leaning on his hammer, his wide shoulders shining like hard coal in the rising sun.

"How do you feel, John Henry?"

Lara turned to see a small man, little more than half John Henry's size, readying the drill with his hands.

John Henry turned to the man and smiled widely. "I feel like a bird ready to bust out of a nest egg. I feel like a rooster ready to crow.I feel pride hammering at my heart and I can hardly wait to get started against that machine." He took a deep breath, filling his lungs. "I feel powerful free, Li'l Willie."

Lara smiled. There was something about that huge frame that bespoke of something pure. Lara wasn't intimidated being this close to a massive man like John Henry…she felt reassured by his presence.

"Ready?!" yelled a man off to Lara's right, holding up a starter's pistol. The crowd went as silent as the mountain. John Henry picked up his hammer as a man placed his hand on the valve that would send the steam drill forward. Then the gun barked. John Henry swung and his hammer rang against the drill as the steam drill gave a hiss and a roar and the drill bit into the granite of the mountain.

Lara watched, utterly spellbound as John Henry pounded his way into the mountain, his hammer singing through the air.

Time passed; Lara had not idea how much, but she found herself standing next to John as he drove through the mountain. "How are we doin'?" John asked Li'l Willie.

"The machine's ahead, John Henry!" Rock dust covered his face, making it pale.

John Henry tossed his hammer aside. Lara watched it land, smoking, as John called back towards the entrance, "Bring me two hammers!I'm only getting' warmed up!!" John Henry took the hammers brought to him and took one in each hand, swinging with powerful strokes. Sparks flew, singing John's face. The hammers began to glow like torches.

Time passed in the blink of an eye and Lara found herself still be John Henry's side, but they were now deep inside the mountain. "How're we doin' now, Li'l Willie?"

Li'l Willie grinned in the glow of the hammers. "The drill's busted. They have to take time to fix up a new one. You're almost even now, John Henry! How're you feelin'?"

"I'm feelin' like sunrise!" John's hammer's flashed against the drill, leaving blurs of light behind them. "Clean out the hole, Willie, and we'll drive right down to China!!"

Lara stepped back, watching John Henry's face. There was no denying it, the legend was right: John Henry was born for driving steel.

More time passed, an hour as a second to Lara. Then she heard the drill start up again. John Henry frowned at the sound. "That sound hurts my ears. Sing me a song, Li'l Willie!!" he gasped, "Sing me a natural song for my hammers to sing along with!"

Li'l Willie sang and Lara's heart sang right along with it.John Henry kept his hammers going in time as the sun rolled past noon and towards the west.

"How're you feelin', John Henry?" Li'l Willie asked.

"I ain't tired yet…only I have kind of a roarin' in my ears."

"That's only the steam engine. You're gainin' on it, John Henry. I reckon you're at least two inches ahead."

John Henry coughed and slung his hammer back. "I'll beat it by a mile, before the sun sets."

"You can't keep it up at this rate, you've got to slow down…" Lara said, but if Li'l Willie or John heard her, they gave no sign.

Time blurred again.

Li'l Willie called out, his eyes sparkling, "You're gonna win, John Henry, if you can keep on drivin'!!"

John Henry ground his teeth together and said, "I'll go 'til I drop. I'm a steel-drivin' man and I'm bound to win, because a machine ain't nothin' but a machine!"

Lara's worry increased as she watched. "How can you keep this up? You CAN'T keep it up, you're only human…"

The sun slid lower. The shadows of the crowd grew long and purple.

Lara suddenly found herself outside the entrances. Polly Ann was there, watching and listening. The sun flared for an instant, then died behind the mountain. Lara heard the crack of the gun and watched the judges run forward to measure the depth of the holes drilled by the steam engine as John Henry walked out, assisted by Li'l Willie and Captain Walters. Lara ran over to John Henry as the judges came back, whispering to Captain Walters. He smiled and looked up at John Henry as he leaned against the side of the mountain he had spent the entire day boring into it. "John Henry, you beat that steam engine by four feet!!"

John Henry looked up as the crowd cheered, the cheer echoing through the countryside. He held up his hand to shake Captain Walters' hand, then staggered.

"NO!" Lara cried as John Henry fell to the ground. Polly Ann and Li'l Willie rushed over to him and bent over him.

"How do you feel, John Henry?" Polly Ann asked, tears in her eyes.

"I feel…a bit tuckered out," John Henry said as Lara felt his chest. There was no heartbeat.

"Do you want me to sing to you?" Li'l Willie asked, crying himself.

"I got a song in my own heart, thank you, Li'l Willie." John Henry raised up on one elbow and looked at all the people, and the last sunset light gleaming like the edge of a golden trumpet, then right into Lara's eyes. "I was a steel-drivin' man," he said, and closed his eyes forever…

"Lara?"

Lara blinked, sitting up in her chair, wiping her eyes. David was looking down at her, concern on his face. "Yes, what is it?"

"You okay, Lara? You kinda zoned out on me there."

Lara cleared her throat. "Just…lost in thought, I guess." She looked up at David and asked, almost pleadingly, "What happened to John Henry after that?"

David stared at Lara for a moment, then said, "Not much there.A couple of local legends say that John Henry's body was buried, with his hammer, in the side of a mountain north of White Sulphur Springs. After that, the legends continue. They say that John Henry's body hasn't decomposed. He lies in his grave, hammer in hand, ready to ride up again when his people need him most. Kind of a variation of the Arthur mythos."

"Be careful, Dave. It's not a myth. There's a difference."

"Whatever. Another legend says that a second hammer exists, and that if the two were brought together, their true power would manifest. A third mentions that as long as John Henry remains in his grave, the Allegheny route will not suffer any railway accidents." David set the book down. "I can't find anything else notable about this place."

"That's notable enough."

Lara and David turned to see Henry Freeman enter the room and close the door. "Nice to see you, Mr. Freeman."

"Same to you two as well. Maybe you can get William out of his current fix."

"William's ALIVE?" David stood up.

"SHHHHHHHH!!! Not so loud! Do you want the whole town to hear?"

"What's going on here, Mr. Freeman?" Lara asked, mildly exasperated. "Why all the secrecy?"

"Because the Sheriff was there when William's house was put to the torch."

"Why?? Why does somebody want William dead?"

"Because he found something he shouldn't have found."

"What?"

Henry looked around conspiratorially, then said in a whisper, "John Henry's hammer."

"You're kidding," David said automatically.

"NO, I'm not."

"Why shouldn't he have found it? I think there'd be many museums who would be proud to exhibit a folk hero like John Henry," said Lara.

"And that's why he shouldn't have found it."

David sat back in his chair. "Yep, you're a teacher, alright.Ten seconds into the lecture, and already you're confusing me. And what does all this have to do with the Sheriff??"

"Listen to me, David, listen carefully. A long time ago, William's mother, Beula, came across some letters, old ones. They were written by her great-great-great-grandfather, William, and addressed to his wife in Atlanta, Georgia. She named her son after him. What she didn't know until after she read those letters was that William was actually…"

"Li'l Willie?" Lara ventured.

"Correct. He wrote to tell her about his adventures with John Henry, and wrote about his final resting place. William had already gone there and brought back John Henry's hammer, to give to a museum. The problem was, he reported his find to the Sheriff, who turned out to be a card-carrying member of the Klu Klux Klan."

"Is William okay?"

"Yes, he's hiding out at an old treehouse we made when we were kids. No one goes down there and it's overgrown, so he'll be okay for now.But that's not important. The Sheriff has taken the hammer somewhere and I can't find out where. I'm no adventurer, I'm a schoolteacher. But I've heard a great deal about your exploits, Miss Croft. Maybe you can find out what happened to the hammer."

"It would be our pleasure, Mr. Freeman. See that William remains in one piece and we'll get the hammer back. Come along, Dave…the game's afoot." Lara got up and walked out of the room.

David stood up and turned to Henry. "How can anyone not have confidence in a woman who can deliver a line like that with a straight face?" With that, he left the room and Henry sat down in the chair that Lara had recently vacated.

_I hope you come through, Miss Lara Croft… he thought, suddenly quite tired. __I'm too old for this cloak-and-dagger stuff._

"Yeah…yeah, right. Look, Angus, I've got it and I'll be able to get there in time, don't you worry."

"It's my job to worry," came the voice on the other side of the line. "Don't be late, the rally starts at nine."

"I wouldn't miss this for anything," said the Sheriff with a grin.

"Do you have the hammer with you?"

"No, I've got it stashed in a safe place."

"Make sure it stays safe until tonight. I don't want this little barbecue to go sour." Angus sighed. "We're getting a visit from none other than the General himself. I'm not going to be the one to tell him that he came all this way for nothing."

"Stop worrying. I'll take care of everything."

"Good, Brother James. We'll see you tonight."

Sheriff Robertson put down the phone. A few miles away, David set down the earphone connected to the receiver and looked across the table in their hotel room. Lara asked, "Well?"

"He's in on it, all right…but it doesn't sound like he's got the hammer. He said he stashed it somewhere and he didn't say where. I do know what he plans to do with it, though."

"What?"

"There's going to be a big rally tonight, over at a field near the mountains north of here. A bunch of racists are going to be showing up at the big bonfire there…where they'll burn the hammer and melt down whatever's left of it."

"Not on your life. We'll just have to get the hammer back."

"Hold on, Lara. According to Angus, Robertson's contact, we're expecting a guest list of about two hundred racists, all quite probably armed. We're going to need a PLAN, Lara."

"Why spoil our perfect record now?" Lara asked, but she sobered. "You're right, of course. But first, we've got to get there. Did our kind Sheriff mention the location in detail?"

"No, but we do have a place to start. If they're expecting that many people, it's safe to say that someone is probably there already, setting up for the festivities. All we need to do is find them."

"Indeed…in less than four hours."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"That plan you were talking about."

"Let's get over there first, check out the opposition."

"Agreed."

It didn't take very long for David and Lara to find the field in question. All they needed to do was head north and follow a truck hauling fresh lumber. They turned off the road a few miles back and stashed the car, then went the rest of the way on foot, Lara in her "working outfit" and David in jeans, T-shirt and boots. Both were also typically armed for bear, Lara with her twin Colts and David with his Desert Eagle.

They moved in, weaving through the trees at a trot, coming to the edge of the treeline and crouching down. The field was populated with workers setting up for a large convention, with the heaviest work on a large stage built on the eastern side of the field. It was approaching the finishing stage, but the work was shoddy at best.

"What do you think?" David asked, settling in. "Think we can mingle?"

"Yes, but to what end? We'll be recognized if we go down there and wait for the festivities to begin, certainly by Sheriff Robertson."

"Maybe not. If there's one constant about racists, it's that they can be recognized for screaming about justice and patriotism while wearing hoods to disguise themselves."

"I think we left our hoods back at the hotel."

"Cute…but correct." David watched the groups of men and women for a while, then smiled. "Hey, Lara."

"What?"

"How are you at carpentry?"

Hours later, the field was ablaze.

Large torches ringed the field where more than three hundred men, women and children, stood there to proclaim their hatred and fear, voices raised in anger and robes and hoods of white flanked the walkway heading up to the main stage where the festivities would begin. Men in red robes stood on the stage, hooded and masked, standing like soldiers at attention.

Finally, at nine o'clock, one of the hooded men stepped forward to the coarse wooden podium that stood in front of a huge wooden dais. He took out a microphone. "Brothers! Sisters! Friends and Americans!!"

A cheer rose from the crowd, fists raised in triumph and hatred.

"I stand before you in triumph tonight, because we have gained a victory in the fight for freedom and justice! No, not a fight…a WAR. A war against invaders that have already penetrated our defenses, entrenched themselves in our midst and make our streets a battleground for their children. You know them, their faces. They have come here to destroy our way of life!!"A roar of anger assaulted the stage."They kill our men! They lust after our women! They send their children forth in gangs to destroy your children! They refuse to go back where they belong, staying here in a constant and relentless campaign to destroy all of America! They use the press and the bleeding-hearts for their own needs, giving them the resources they need. They demand that their own so-called 'heroes' be put up in the light and shown off while they commit unspeakable acts in dark corners of America! Well, my friends, my fellow Americans…tonight, we shall forever deprive them of one of their heroes!!"

A spotlight burst into life, illuminating the dais. Sitting on it was a huge sledgehammer.

"Remember their hero, John Henry? A man who was proven by our historians to be nothing more than a stupid slave too dumb to do more than swing a hammer? Here lies that hammer!" Another spotlight lit up the side of the mountain, revealing a rough-hewn hole. "And THAT, my friends, is the tomb of that man!"

The cries of rage became louder, easily able to hide the talking going on underneath the stage.

"If hear much more of this stuff, I'm gonna puke."

"The rest of your plan would sound good right about now, Dave…"

"Simple. When they put the hammer on the dais and light the fire, I wait until the fire obscures the hammer and then I pull this rope, dropping the hammer down here. Then we hustle out the little door I made for us, hit the treeline and then we're outta here. By the time they sift through the ashes and find that the metal head of the hammer isn't there, we'll be LONG gone."

"Simple, elegant…I like it, Dave. Let's hope things go as smoothly as you say."

Up above, the Grand Wizard held a torch aloft. "Tonight, we strike a blow for the honor of our race and our struggle!! Let this show that we're not afraid of our Enemy…and that we can strike at his heart at any time!!!" He dropped the torch as the base of the dais and stepped back as the flame caught the gasoline-soaked wood. He signaled to the others and they, too, threw their torches at the stage while running off and away from it. When they reached a distance of approximately forty feet, they stopped, turned…and watched.

Meanwhile, things were getting a little stuffy underneath the stage.

"Dave, I hate to be a nag, but it's getting awfully warm under here!"

"Just a few more seconds…" David said insistently, but he looked worried. A lot more smoke then David had figured was building underneath the stage. "Now!" He pulled on the rope and the trap doors he and Lara had built into the dais opened, dropping the hammer to the earth below. Coughing, David ran to the hammer and picked it up. "Jeez, this thing is HEAVY…!"

Lara ran to the door and stopped. "Dave, I hope you have an alternate plan!"

"What?" David turned and ran to her side, then stopped as he saw that the exit door was now completely engulfed in flame! "Ooops…"

"You picked a POOR TIME to say that word!!" Lara yelled.

Outside, the leader of the group watched with a curious look on his face. The roar of the great bonfire was close to deafening, but he swore he heard shouts from INSIDE the stage! Plus, something was bothering

him about the way the dais collapsed as the flames grew higher. _The hammer shouldn't have fallen through so soon…_

He attuned his ears past the sounds of crackling wood and tried to shut out the cheers of the crowd.

Lara looked around, then took the hammer from David's hands."Time to make our own exit!" She looked around, then ran to the far side of the stag, keeping her head low to escape the smoke building underneath the stage. David ran behind her, then stopped as a section of the stage fell between them with a fiery CRASH!!

Lara turned back as she heard the sound. "DAVID!!"

The leader stared into the fire. "Sheriff! Get over here!"

Another hooded man ran over to the Grand Wizard. "Yes, Sire!"

"Somebody's under the stage; I distinctly heard a woman's voice call out the name, 'David'!"

"David…Connors! He and some woman were snooping around the nigger's place!"

"Get your men ready…they may try to escape! Surround the stage!"

"I'm alright…(koff, koff, koff)…if you call being under a bonfire alright!" David came around the collapsed wood and ran to Lara's side just as more of the stage fell through behind him.

Lara nodded, then ran to a part of the stage not yet completely consumed in flame, raising the hammer high. "Ready?!"

David pulled his Desert Eagle. "Ready!"

Lara hauled back with the hammer and swung mightily against the wood. The effect was better than she could've hoped as the impact caused the entire section of the stage to explode outwards. David burst through the opening, firing his massive pistol into the air. The men close by dove for what little cover there was as Lara burst past him, looking for a way out, any way out.

The only refuge was the hole in the side of the mountain."David!" she yelled, sprinting for the opening. David caught the clue and began laying down fire to keep the armed bigots from getting a good shot at them. That didn't stop them from trying, though as bullets flew towards them, striking the ground around them and whizzing past them.

Sheriff Robertson drew his shotgun and aimed carefully as his men ran for cover. "Never liked you, bitch…" he muttered as he pulled the trigger.

Lara yelped in pain as the blast took a chunk out of her leg and she stumbled. David saw her fall and swooped down, pulling her up and carrying her the rest of the way to the cave entrance. Lara let the hammer fall as David set her on the ground and looked at her wound. "Dammit!!" He took off his shirt and began to rip it into strips before Lara took his arm in her hand.

"I can do this myself…just make sure they don't come in here!"

David nodded and ran back to the cave entrance just in time to see two men and a woman approaching the mouth of the cave. He snarled and brought his gun up, shattering the kneecaps of the woman and one of the men and watching them fall back. "Anyone else tries to come in here and I'll fill 'em fulla holes!!" Not particularly eloquent, but sufficient to get the point across, he thought.

The Grand Wizard gave Sheriff Robertson a cold I'll-talk-to-you-later-about-this look and picked up a megaphone. "COME ON OUT, MR. CONNORS, AND GIVE US THE HAMMER!"

"Right! And we'll forget the whole thing, is that it?"

"YOUR WOMAN'S HURT, MR. CONNORS…SHE MAY BLEED TO DEATH. AND THEN WE'LL COME IN ANYWAY."

"Go ahead. We'll see how many I take with me when you do. Please tell me you'll come in first!!"

"VERY BRAVE WORDS, MR. CONNORS. WE'LL SEE HOW BRAVE YOU ARE WHEN YOUR WOMAN BLEEDS TO DEATH!"

"You're forgetting something, Mr. High-And-Mighty!"

"AND WHAT IS THAT, MAY I ASK?"

David smiled. "The wonders of sat-phone technology! I can have the FBI here in a matter of minutes! Disperse and bail, and I'll leave you alone! Hang around here long enough…and each and every one of you will get an engraved invitation to Club Fed!!"

The Grand Wizard lowered the megaphone and turned to Sheriff Robertson. "Unless you have a very good idea about what to do, Sheriff, you are in very serious trouble."

Sheriff Robertson smiled. "Actually, I do have an idea. Warren, bring it over here."

David went back to Lara. "How are ya doing, sweetheart?"

"I'll live…it's not bad, but that cretin is right. I am going to need a doctor, and soon."

"MR. CONNORS! ARE YOU STILL THERE?"

"What does HE want?" David groused as he went to the entrance of the cavern. "Yeah! I'm still here!"

"GOOD."

David frowned. He didn't like the sound of that. He was about to call out again when he noticed something extending from a pile of rocks next to him.

A wire.

Sheriff Robertson raised the radio detonator high. "Goodbye, nigger-lover," he said viciously and pressed the button.

The entrance of the cave exploded as the dynamite placed around the mouth of the cave went off, sending tons of rock cascading down over the blast point. After a few seconds of grinding rock and stone, silence reigned over the field.Then the assembly cheered as Sheriff Robertson put the detonator away. The Grand Wizard looked at him in admiration. "When did you set THAT up?"

"Well, I didn't want some moron coming over to view our handiwork in the tomb, so I set the dynamite up to erase all traces that we were there. At least now we can get rid of the witnesses. We can always come back later to dig out the body so we can destroy it later."

The leader smiled. "Clever. And you're sure there's no way out of there."

"That cave was the only exit, and he'll never be able to use that sat-phone through miles of granite. If he wasn't killed by the blast, which I hope he wasn't, he and his girlfriend are going to find out how it feels to die by suffocation as the air goes bad in there. Slow and painful, from what I hear."

"Excellent. Now let's get out of here. Somebody will eventually come by to see what's going on, and that explosion will ensure that someone will come to investigate soon. Disperse the crowd, tell everyone to go home."

"Yes, Sire."

David rubbed rock dust from his face. "Lara?"

"Still here…" Lara shook her head. "I can barely hear you!"

"What?? I can't hear you!"

Lara sighed. "At least our hearing should return soon. Come on, David, help me up!"

David shook his head to try to get the ringing out of his ears, then help Lara to one foot. "Now what??"

"RUN!"

David looked around and felt the shuddering of the walls around them. "The blast must've started a chain reaction!" He lifted both Lara and the hammer, hotfooting it down the passageway, feeling the ceiling caving in behind them and around them! He dodged two rocks and jumped over a third before coming to the end of the corridor, continuing his sprint until he couldn't feel the ground moving anymore. David turned and looked behind him at the stone that now filled the passageway.

Lara and David found themselves inside a large cavern, at least fifty feet high and populated by stalagmites. Looking around in wonder, they moved through the forest of stone until they came to the center. A huge stone block sat on the stone floor of the cavern. Lara moved to the stone and brushed away the dust that covered it, revealing letters.

"What does it say?" David asked in a more normal tone of voice; his hearing was returning.

"'Here lies a steel-drivin' man'…David, it's John Henry's crypt!"

David sat down on the stone casket. "Looks like it's going to be ours as well," he said morosely.

"Don't say that, David. We can't give up now."

"Lara, be sensible. There are no other exits and the air in here isn't going to last forever. And getting out the way we came in will take YEARS of digging."

"Fine. YOU can be sensible. I'll be unreasonably optimistic."

"How can you be optimistic?? You're gonna bleed to death…"

David stopped. "I'm sorry, Lara. It's just that…"

"What?" Lara sat on the casket, letting her legs dangle over the side.

"Nothing."

"Dave, NOW is most certainly not the time for words like, 'nothing.' If you want to tell me something, tell me," Lara said gently.

David shook his head. "Well, Lara…jeez, this is the worst possible time for this. Lara, I've been thinking a lot about us…" Suddenly Lara's eyes widened. "Now, come on, Lara, it's not that bad a subject…"

"David!"

"What?"

"The hammer…"

"Screw the hammer, Lara, what use is it…?"

"…it's GLOWING!"

David spun around to see the hammer, glowing dully, but growing brighter by the second. It rose off its resting place on the ground and moved towards the stone coffin. Lara scrambled off and David pulled her away as the hammer rose into the air…

…then came down on the coffin!!

The stone exploded and David and Lara shielded their eyes from flying fragments of rock, but none came. The impact had completely DISINTEGRATED the stone. Then the hammer gracefully lowered itself into the coffin…and then a bright light glowed from inside the casket, lighting the domed ceiling like the Bat-signal. The two adventurers stepped back in astonishment.

And then a hand reached up and grasped the side of the coffin.

The hand soon became an arm, then a torso, then a tall humanoid figure, illuminated from behind and from in front by the glowing hammers, one in each hand. A rich voice boomed from the eight-foot-tall figure: "I'm John Henry, and I was born with a hammer in my hand."

Then the light dimmed and Lara swore she saw the outline of wings behind the figure before the light died. But the hammers still glowed a reddish-white light as John Henry walked over to Lara and David. He knelt to one knee and looked at the both of them. No one spoke.

Then John Henry smiled, a wide, all-encompassing smile that seemed to give of its own light. "I know you," the ebon giant said to Lara.

"I…I had a dream about you…" Lara said in a whisper.

"I dreamed you, too, woman." The voice seemed to hold a mystery inside it. "I been asleep for a long time, dreamin' dreams of angels, waitin' for someone to bring my other hammer back." He turned to David as he stood up. "I dreamed of you, too…only you looked taller, and wore steel."

"Taller? Steel?" David shook his head. "You got the wrong guy…John Henry."

John Henry looked around the cavern. "I thank ya for bringin' back my hammer, but you don' look happy to be here."

"We're trapped in here, John Henry. The cave's sealed off, and the air's not going to last long. We can't get out."

John threw back his head and laughed as if he'd heard a particularly good joke. Then he turned to the others with his wide, beaming smile. "You helped a good friend of mine, man. I know you better'n you think. You keep him alive, help 'im get back to his momma. You help him…and now I help you. Come on." He walked to the cave-in and studied it the way an architect studies a blueprint. David picked up Lara and walked to John Henry's side.

After a few moments, David looked up at John. "Well?"

John Henry hefted both hammers as if they small sticks. "Stand back. Li'l Willie! Set that drill, so we can drill us a hole!"

"Who are…" David began, then shut up as a large curved spike surrounded by blue fire rose from the floor and planted itself against the rocks and stone in John Henry's way.

"Sing me a song, Li'l Willie! Sing me a song for my hammers to sing along with!!"

A disembodied voice, rich and clear, sang a song that had no words and needed none. John smiled and raised his hammers, then swung them against the drill bit, driving it deep into the rock and sending up a spray of dust. Another drill appeared just in time to be struck by John's next swing, and then another and another as the hammerheads streaked through the air, John's swings coming faster and faster as he bent to his work, drilling through the rock with superhuman speeds. Each impact completely vaporized the granite underneath the steel and John's hammers glowed red-hot.With each strike, a foot of rock disappeared. Lara and David found themselves needing to stay far back from John Henry's work, as the air heated up around him from the power of his hammers. But even as fiery as the air became, John Henry's spirit never flagged, never stopped. Even as far back as they were, Lara and David could still hear John's deep voice echo through the tunnel. "Sing louder, Li'l Willie, I feel like a river pressin' against a dam! I feel like a new day! Keep that drill steady, Li'l Willie, and we'll drill right down to Hades and box Ol' Scratch's ears!"

The Grand Wizard watched the last of the victorious assembly leave, turning to his men and Sheriff Robertson. "I think it's time we left, gentlemen. Our holy work is done and we have our families to return…" He stopped. "What's that noise?"

"What noise?" Sheriff Robertson looked around. So did the other men.

"…sounds like thunder." The Grand Wizard looked up into the starry sky. "But there's no clouds."

"I hear it." One of the Wizard's men looked towards the mountain. "It's getting' louder!"

All of the men looked to the mountain, backing away.

"Earthquake??" ventured one of the men.

"In West Virginia? Don't be…"

And then the mountain exploded.

The Sheriff, the Grand Wizard and all their friends were blown off their feet as the cave entrance was blasted open by the force of a hundred battering rams, rocks flying everywhere over their prone bodes.When the Grand Wizard looked up, he prayed that his eyes were deceiving him.

Standing in front of him was an eight-foot-tall, muscular black man with two red-hot hammers in his hands, a light from God-on-High illuminating him. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

David and Lara cleared the entrance and Lara broke from David's grip, leaning against the side of the mountain for support as she drew her Colts. David drew his gun and aimed at Sheriff Robertson. "Drop 'em!!!" he yelled. The Sheriff and his men reluctantly complied, cowed by the sight of two armed mortals and one gigantic angel in front of them.

John Henry looked down at the Grand Wizard, who was backing away, fear in his eyes at the apparition in front of him. He trembled as John Henry reached down towards himThe Grand Wizard threw up an arm as if to block a blow, but the anticipated blow never came. The Grand Wizard lowered his arm to see that John Henry was holding out a hand to help the Grand Wizard to his feet. "Get up, man, I ain't gonna hurt you."

The Grand Wizard looked up at John Henry, took the hand and allowed himself to be pulled up as his other hand flashed out of his pocket, revealing six inches of sharpened steel! He shoved the knife into John Henry's torso and Lara yelled in warning, but not fast enough to keep the knife from snapping off in the Wizard's hand.

John Henry looked down at the Grand Wizard. "Why you do that? I never done anythin' to hurt you."

"You're an abomination…you never shoulda come here!" The Grand Wizard backed up, considering whether to use a gun on the giant in front of him.

John Henry looked confused. "People like you, you all the same.You bring us here and then blame us for bein' here. You teach us to be like you and you punish us for it. You sayin' all blacks are bad, but that's like sayin' all whites are like the Nazis."

"What do you know about the Master Race?" the Grand Wizard spat.

"I see lots from where I was. Ain't no 'master race'…jest God's people. But you don't like us 'cause we're different and you need someone to blame your problems on. Ain't nobody better or worse than anybody else."

"I am doing the Lord's work, ghost or demon or whatever you are…I am doing the holy and sacred work of God!"

"What's holy about fear? What's sacred about hatred? I ain't here to preach to you, I ain't got the tongue for it. I jest came to get my hammer back, though I think it might be better off someplace else, don'tcha think, Miz Croft?"

"I'll make sure it goes somewhere anyone can go to look at it and see what it stands for, I swear."

"Doan swear, Miz Croft, jest do what the good Book says. 'Just do what you say you will.' David?"

David walked over to John Henry, keeping his eyes on the hooded men. "Yes?" he asked.

"Put away the gun, David, they ain't gonna do nothin'." As David slowly put the gun in its holster, John Henry held out the hammer in his right hand. "Take it and let my people know who I am. Tell them that I am real."

"I'll do it…no matter what," he added, looking at the Grand Wizard.

"Don't hate them, David. Pray for 'em. They been answering to the wrong lord, thassall. Don't judge 'em, 'cause it ain't your right." He turned to Lara and smiled. "The Lord's callin' and my time here is done, for now."

Then a bright, blinding light enveloped all.

EPILOGUE

William Jackson, a handsome black man in his late twenties with a strong face and a dark blue suit, stood outside the white wooden church, waiting patiently. However, when the minute hand began to come dangerously close to the number twelve, he started to worry. Five minutes before eight o'clock, an Acura NSX drove into the parking lot and David Connors stepped out, followed shortly by Lara Croft. Both wore their Sunday best."William!" David smiled as he ran up the stairs three at a time, Lara following behind with a Mona-Lisa-smile on her lips.

"David, you'd be late for your own funeral," William said, shaking his head.

"I certainly hope so. William, I want you to meet my partner in crime, Lara Croft."

"Heard a lot about you, Lara." William shook Lara's hand warmly.

"I deny everything," she responded mischievously.

William laughed. "Glad you could come to our church."

"Sure it won't make anyone nervous?" David asked hesitantly."From the look of it, Lara and I are the only white people here."

"Everyone here knows what you've done about John Henry's hammer. You've helped us get a part of our history into the light. I don't think anyone here will hold that against you. Now come on, the singing's about to start." All three of them went inside as the choir stood up and began to sing the opening hymn. Lara was nearly blasted backwards at the force of the singing; she'd never seen anyone put so much power and emotion into a simple hymn like "Let It Shine," and she found herself dwarfed by the music that filled the building and threatened to shake the rafters loose. As the service went on, Lara found herself impressed by the power in that small wooden church. The service made the church services she had attended in England seem small by comparison.

Afterwards, many came forward to introduce themselves to Lara and David, and many others came forward to shake the hands of the people who put the hammer of John Henry in the Smithsonian institution. They were invited to the picnic after church and they accepted. As they walked out of the building, the pastor met them at the door. Pastor Roman was a small man in stature, but the power of his faith made him look ten feet tall at the podium. "Lara Croft and David Connors," he said with a smile. "I wanted to thank you for everything you've done."

"Please, sir. It was nothing. In fact, as our adventures go, I'd say this was one of our calmer weeks."

"Calmer??" David turned to Lara in disbelief.

Pastor Roman chuckled. "Will I see you next week?"

"Afraid not, Father. We have to catch a plane back to England this very night."

"I hope you'll be able to stay for the picnic."

"We will. Wouldn't miss it."

"Good! I hope to see you there."

David, Lara and William walked back to the Acura. "Well, William, what's the story on our not-so-favorite hoods?"

"They're spending time in jail for attempted murder, conspiracy and a slew of other charges. Needless to say, we're looking for a new Sheriff. Boyd might make a good Sheriff."

"Yeah, if it weren't for the fact that he's already with the FBI. Hard to believe that goofy looking deputy was actually an undercover agent investigating the racist problem around here."

"That was rather the point, wasn't it, Dave?" Lara said. "He's a rather nice chap after all."

"Not something we could say about Senator Johnson, huh? His constituents are going to get a nasty shock when they find out he was the head of the KKK around here. I hope he enjoys his new office. Pity about the view, though." William smiled.

"Maybe you should be Sheriff, William. You're an ex-cop, after all…and I'd feel better about this place if you were the Law around here," David said knowingly.

"I'll think about it. In the meantime, let's go to a picnic. I hope you like barbecued ribs, Lara."

"Never had them…but I'm looking forward to the experience."

"I'll meet you there." William went over to his car.

As David unlocked the doors and got into the driver's seat, he turned to Lara before starting the engine. "Think we should tell anyone about what REALLY happened out there?"

"No. Besides, God doesn't need that kind of publicity."

"Good, because I'm not sure I believe it myself. And what was all that about me wearing steel?"

"Well, Dave, I always thought of you as my knight in shining armor. Maybe somebody else recognized it in you."

"Me? A knight? PLEASE."

"Well, Dave, you are a crusader of sorts…that much is obvious."

David snorted. "Maybe…but actual armor? Not a chance. Now let's get to the picnic…I have a sudden need to devour some corn-on-the-cob."

As the car drove away, Pastor Roman watched them leave. He smiled gently. "God be with you both," he murmured, "for I do not envy you the road you must now travel." With that enigmatic sentence said, he went back inside the church.


	17. You Are Now Entering The World

**You Are Now Entering The World Of Survival Horror...**

### **By C. Mage**

"Damn!" David slammed the phone back into its cradle and turned away from the phone booth, pulling up his collar and dashing through the rain. He got to the sleek silver sports car and got in on the driver's side, closing the door quickly.

"No luck?"

David turned to the lovely brunette sitting next to him. She wore a tan blouse and dark brown Bermuda shorts, her hair tied back in a no-nonsense braid. He ran his fingers through his own black hair, spattering rainwater on his black leather jacket and blue jeans. "Nothing.Something is seriously wrong. I've tried his house ever since we hit the coast, and still nothing. He's either at a party with some of his friends or he just got off a LONG shift at the R.P.D." He wiped the rain from his face and blinked. "I don't like it."

"Now, come on, Dave. How bad could it truly be?" asked Lara Croft, archaeologist-at-large.

"I don't know...when he called us in England, he didn't make a whole lotta sense. Said something about some serious problems in town and he wanted me to find his sister, give her a message for him. By the time I call, she's gone and her landlady says, 'she's gone again.' Sounds like Chris' sister is some kind of nomad."

"What was the message?"

"'Whatever happens, don't come to Raccoon City until I contact you again.' Sounds like something fishy is going on, alright, but I can't imagine what. Last time I came to Raccoon City, the place was Sleepytown, USA. Now he doesn't want his biker sister to go there?"

"Now, Dave, you're making this sound like some kind of colossal mystery. I'm sure there's a perfectly rational explanation for all this."

"I'd love to hear one that made sense. In any case, we should check it out...in your brand-new, we-had-to-take-it-with-us car."

Lara settled back in her car, a '98 Aston-Martin DB-7. The vehicle was sleek and pantherish, just the way Lara liked it, with smooth, unobtrusive lines that bespoke of serene power and casual speed and handling. She had road-tested it in her own fashion and found the vehicle a pleasure to drive, able to go from zero to sixty miles per hour in a heartbeat and could turn on a dime, but was extremely too fishtail-prone for her liking. It was impressive when she first got it, , though, but when she discovered David's knack for understanding cars, asked him to tweak the handling a bit. As a result, David had altered the suspension and steering, giving Lara just a lot more control and responsiveness from the vehicle.The top speed suffered as a result, but Lara preferred agility over high speed. "Now, David...are you insinuating that I'm showing the old girl off?"

"No, I'm not insinuating it at all. I'm saying it flat out. Now get the 'old girl' in gear. I want some answers and the only place I'm going to get them is at the Raccoon City Police Department."

Even with the directions David gave her, Lara almost missed the exit entirely. "It's a touch off the beaten path, isn't it?"

"Yeah...but that's why it's such a nice place. No heavy industry, no big-time events. It's a small town with the kind of charm and activity that appeals to tourists, but is too far away from the Real World to be found by tourists. Good fishing and hunting, nice people...it's the kind of place that, once you've visited it, you won't forget the visit for a long time, if ever."

"Sounds nice. I could stand to get away from the 'Real World' for a while. And there's a good chance that no one will recognize me...uhm, are there any universities or colleges there?"

"Nope. Just a high school."

"Even better. I may flirt with anonymity yet." Lara stopped the windshield wipers. "Rain's finally let up."

"Glad to hear it. By the way, you wouldn't happen to be packing, would you?"

"Well, David..." Lara said with a guilty smile.

"You didn't."

"Look, David, you sounded worried, and you know what a careful person I am."

"Oh, yeah, right. You go through dank dungeons, creepy crypts, and battle monsters, thugs and hungry animals because you're the cautious type."

"David, it's not my fault I'm 'packing,' as you put it."

"What? Whose is it, then?"

"Why, yours."

"MINE??"

"Yes. I remember your words, David, you said, 'Lara, go upstairs and pack.'"

"I didn't mean pack HEAT!"

"Then you should be more conscious of your choice of wording,"Lara said with a smile, looking out over the road.

"Jeez...just my luck, I'm involved with an English Major." He looked at the sign that swiftly passed them, "RACCOON CITY LIMITS." He checked his watch. "Ten at night...and it's a Saturday. Looks like things might be pretty active tonight. We should find..."

"BLAST!!"

David suddenly felt the car lurch to the left and grabbed the armrest, pressing his feet against the floor to brace himself as the car's tires skidded over the road. The car swerved to the side at Lara's command.He turned to Lara, startled, to see her hands gripping the wheel and her teeth visibly gritted together. "What the...?!"

Lara's hiking boots slammed on the brakes and the car spun just over one-eighty degrees, shaking on its suspension to a halt. "Dave, did you see that?"

"See what? I was looking at my watch!"

Lara peered out into the knives of light ahead of the Aston-Martin. "I saw something run right past the car."

"Maybe it was a deer."

Lara turned to David. "What I saw was NO deer, Dave...unless the deer around here are prone to walking on their hind legs."

David started looking around. "Did you get a good look at it?"

"Not really...but what I saw was not like any animal I've seen before. It was built powerfully, vaguely humanoid, with long arms. I think it had claws and a very long tongue."

David shook his head. "Maybe you'd better let me drive, you've been behind the wheel for hours..."

"I was NOT seeing things, David! I know what I saw!"

David took one look at Lara's face and a chill ran up his back."Let's just get to town."

"Dave, I've got a horrible feeling about this."

David looked out into the darkness. "Ditto. But we can't stay here, out in the open like this. Best we get into town where there's people around, people who can tell us what's going on."

Lara nodded and she wheeled the car around, driving back towards Raccoon City. As she left, a skinless, humanoid shape looked out from the foliage and grinned, blood dripping from its jaws.A human leg with a woman's shoe was clutched in its claws, huge bite marks marring the pale white skin.

Unfortunately, Lara and David's moods only got worse as they got into town. Most of the lights were dark, and two of the taverns they passed were completely silent. "What the hell is going on here?" David asked as they moved through town, Lara slowing the Aston-Martin down to a hair above thirty kilometers per hour.

"Maybe they all went to bed early," Lara ventured, but her words didn't convince her either.

"I think I'm getting the distinct idea that whatever spooked Chris is hanging around here like a bad smell. Wait...look, over there!"

Lara stopped the car. "What is it?"

"Over there." David pointed to an elementary school campus to the right of the road. "I thought I saw some kids running around there."

"This time of night?"

"Could be. At this rate, it wouldn't be much of a surprise.Let's go take a look." David got out of the car.Lara got out as well, going to the rear and opening the trunk. "What are you doing?"

"Dave, I'm not going ANYWHERE in this place naked." She pulled out a pair of pistols, .45 Colt Defenders, and stuck them in her pockets."There. I think you should get respectably attired as well, Dave my sweet." She tossed him his black Desert Eagle .50, his shoulder holster and three clips.

David caught the weapon and clips. "Lara, aren't you being a little paranoid?"

"I'd rather be suspicious than dead any day of the week and twice on holidays."

"This is an elementary school. What are you planning to do, shoot Barney?"

"I couldn't possibly be that fortunate. Come along, David...let's go find the prodigals." She shut the trunk and took the safeties off her pistols. David shrugged and followed, strapping on the holster.

As they opened the gate, a cold wind moaned through the streets and the two shuddered despite themselves. "Come on, kids!" David yelled, "You know you're not supposed to be out this late! Come on, kids, time to go home!"

They listened for a reply, but the only thing that answered them was the wind. David shuddered again, but not from the cold this time.The moaning sounds sounded...human...or something really close to it. _Now she's got ME doing it! David groused.A sound off to their right caught their attentions and they turned to see four child-sized shadows against a wall thirty feet away, moving towards them. Lara noted with some alarm that the figures walking towards them weren't making any sounds. Lara and David backed up into the lights and saw four children, three girls and a boy, following them._

What they looked like made Lara and David fill their hands with gunmetal.

The children looked at them with white, slack eyes. Their skin and hair belonged to the decayed, patches of skin exposing muscle and bone.One of the girls, a ten-year-old with golden-blond curls, was missing her lower jaw. The boy's right arm was broken, hanging at an odd angle, and he was wearing only one shoe. Their clothes were ripped and soiled all over, and dark red patches of blood decorated what clothing they had left.

"HOLY CREEPING MOSES!!" David screamed, backing up as the children-things shuffled towards them inexorably. Lara backed up, fighting down her horror at the sight.

"Dave, SHOOT!"

Dave raised his pistol, but couldn't make his trigger finger work. The impulse to fire was temporarily offline, but he still found the energy to make his legs work. Lara's trigger fingers, however, worked just fine and she opened up on the small zombies with precision shots to the hearts. The impact of the hollowpoints knocked the things to the ground and Lara lowered her pistols, turning to David. He looked back at her and her initial rage at his hesitation dwindled. "I'm sorry, Lara...I froze. I never thought I'd be..."

A gutteral hiccuping noise interrupted him and they both turned with wide eyes back towards the children.

They were getting back up.

They got to their feet shakily and turned back to them, fresh blood staining their chests. One of the girls had nearly been blown in half, but the upper half of her body animated, the arms pulling at the ground and trying to pull the rest of the body along. There was a sickening stretching noise as the upper half tried to drag the lower half behind it, then a squelching SNAP heralded the separation of the body's two halves.The upper body kept moving, however.

This time, David's trigger fingers worked just fine. He gritted his teeth and fired four times, this time aiming for the zombies' heads.The massive shells emptied the walking deads' craniums completely and they fell again, this time staying down, twitching slightly. David leaned against a wall, then bowed his head to one side and threw up. Lara had to fight to keep her own dinner from leaving her body involuntarily.

David spit the taste from his mouth, then forced himself to look at the bodies again. Still lifeless. Lara turned to David. "I think we now know why your friend Chris was so worried."

"My God..." David breathed.

"I don't think He had anything to do with this."

"...what is GOING ON?? It looks like we walked onto the set of 'NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, PART WHATEVER.' Phew..."

Lara turned to look at where the children came from and her eyes widened again. "Uhm, Dave?"

David looked up to see more shadows coming towards them...a lot more. "Uh oh...I think school's out!"

"Let's not wait around for recess!" Lara ran back to the car, David in hot pursuit. He forced himself not to look back...the sight of several zombie children trying to eat him would've driven him mad at this point.

"Let's get to the police station!!"

"Why?"

"You got any better ideas?"

Lara looked back to see thirty-five or so zombie grade-schoolers advancing on them. "Not at the moment!" She opened the car door and got in, David following suit, and she turned the engine over.

David closed his eyes and focused himself._The last thing I need is to lose it now…get it together, Dave, or you'll be useless. Not to mention an entrée!_

"Are you okay?" Lara asked.

"DEFINE, 'okay.' If 'okay' means being trapped in a town where the School Lunch Program now includes cannibalism, then the definition's changed since I last knew. But if you're asking if I'm going to lose it any second now, I'm not. At least, not yet." David hazarded a look back, seeing the rear of the road being populated by grade-school corpses. "I can't believe this is happening…! Zombies? It sounds like some bad movie."

"I know what you mean, but I think we can accept that it is, so let's stop buggering about. Direct me to the police station."

"Down that road…JESUS…" David looked through the windshield at the sights now burning themselves into his retinas. Scattered fires in both houses and cars strewn along the road like the toys of some giant toddler.Men, women and children wandering the streets aimlessly, the same blank looks on their faces. Although some looked in better condition than others, all of them looked like cadavers who had all decided to move from one cemetery to another. They barely even noticed the car, most standing out in the middle of the streets as if waiting for something to come by. The zombified townspeople lurched towards the passing car, making Lara's task much more difficult.

"I certainly hope your friend didn't suffer the same fate as these poor souls."

"Tell me about it. I'm not looking forward to the thought of finally locating him and then finding out that I have to put a bullet in his brain when I see him. That would just ruin my week…!" David said angrily. "When I find out who did this, I'm going to reach down his throat, grab him by the short and curlies and pull him inside out!!"

"You think someone planned this?"

"Everyone in town is like this, so whatever happened, somebody must have done this to everyone at the same time. What kind of magic could do this?"

"I don't know, Dave…this isn't voodoun, unless everyone in town was killed at the same time and brought back. No houngan has that kind of endurance. I don't know of any other magic that could MY GOD!!"

David's eyes jerked forward as they turned a corner and a flaming oil tanker filled their windshield.

Lara hit the brakes with both feet, simultaneously praying and silently thanking David for improving the braking system in the Aston Martin. The car decelerated as if the tires had suddenly transformed from vulcanized rubber to Krazyglue, stopping the car just short of the spill of flames. Lara was about to voice her thanks when the words dried up in her throat at the sight of three zombies coming OUT of the flames. "Dave, I think now would be a good time to leave!!"

Dave turned and saw the main gate to the police station. "Come on! That way!"

Lara turned to see several zombies flanking the street. "Out there?"

"You want to hang around in here??"

"Good point." Lara grabbed her pack from the back seat, then hesitated. "Dave, we've got more firepower in the trunk!"

"No time! RUN!!" He shoved open the door, knocking one of the fire-zombies back with the impact.

Lara was forced to agree with David's tactics and opened the door, planting her booted feet against the door and opening the door as hard as she could! The door slammed into the other two and Lara leaped from the car, running from the car towards the gate, David close behind. The zombies on their sides saw them and began moaning in earnest, lurching towards them. They got to the gate and David turned, covering Lara's back as she opened the gate. He fired twice, decapitating the two zombies in front of him, but saw them replaced by a half-dozen all too quickly.

Lara opened the gate, pulled David in and slammed it closed.She started to lock it when she saw that the lock had been broken. "Dave, RUN!"

They backed up a few steps, but before they could sprint away, David noticed something that made him pause. "Lara, relax…"

"Poor joke at a time like this, David!" Lara yelled.

"No, look."

Lara turned and saw that the gate was holding. She watched intently. "I thought the gate couldn't lock."

"It might as well be locked. These zombies are obviously not too smart. None of them have even TRIED the knob."

Lara watched. David was right; although they were pressing against the wrought-iron gate with enough force to bend it to a small degree, crushing each other in their attempts to get at David and Lara, none of them reached for the knob that would allow them access. "Whatever made them like this must have seriously affected their higher brain functions."

"As in 'wrecked them.' I think we're safe for now."

Lara turned to her left and froze. "David, you might want to re-think that."

David turned to see a zombie in a police uniform standing forty feet away, facing them. However, he didn't make a single move to get at them. David felt the breeze blowing in his face. "Their vision must also be impaired. He can't see us. I bet he could smell us from this far away, but he can't because he's upwind now."

"Let's get inside before the wind changes, shall we?" She looked across the garden, then left to the stairs. "Do you know where those go?"

"Yeah…down to a trench that crosses the courtyard and garden from below. We can get past Zombie-Boy there safely. Let's go." David and Lara went to the stairs, walked down and stopped. David's jaw dropped."Brad?" he asked hollowly.

In answer, a male zombie wearing a S.T.A.R.S. flight suit and vest turned to look at him. For a moment, living and dead viewed each other.

Brad was clearly quite dead, one eyeball hanging by its optic nerve and flapping against his cheek. His body was pale and missing large patches of skin. His uniform was dirty and stained brown in places. The barest hint of a smile twitched Brad's peeling lips. "…daaaaaaaviiiiidd…" he smiled, then reached out with his arms and came at David, shambling towards the two humans eagerly.

Lara didn't bother waiting for David, drawing both her Colts and letting the corpse have it with both guns. Brad wouldn't fall, unfortunately, not until Lara had emptied both clips. He dropped with a sickening "SMACK!" and blood pooled around his body. Lara turned to David."Listen to me, David Connors. You're going to have to face up to the fact that you're going to have to shoot at people you once knew. But these aren't those people anymore, David, these are creatures with no souls and their only desire is to devour you. The sooner you realize this, the longer you'll live. Do we understand each other?"

David tore his eyes away from the finally-dead corpse of Brad Vickers. "Alright…alright…" he said unconvincingly.

"DAVID!" Lara yelled. David turned his attention to her completely. Both stared into each other's eyes, then David nodded. Lara nodded in return. "Good. Now get us to the front door."

David and Lara looked around at the foyer to the police station. It was easily three stories high, with catwalks around the edges of the room on the second and third floors. In the middle of the huge lobby was a fountain made of a statue pouring water from an urn on its right shoulder. Behind the statue, up a slight incline, sat a large administration area made up of a few desks, some tables and a large, semi-circular wooden counter that surrounded them. David and Lara saw doors leading to the east and west, two on the west, one on the east.

The first thing Lara did was head to the administration area and check the phone. David caught up with her just in time to see her slam the receiver back into its cradle. "It's dead."

"Just like everyone else around here."

"They can't all be dead. After all, you just called your friend Chris."

"_Tried_ to call. The phone was ringing, but if the lines were cut somewhere along the way…no, that doesn't make any sense. I would've gotten a message from the phone company saying that the line was disconnected. The lines are only out in this building, apparently."

"Well, what do we do now?" Lara sat down behind one of the desks.

"Actually, I was hoping you had a plan."

Lara laughed. "Dave, I haven't been through _every_ possible lethal situation."

"Yet…"

That sobered Lara. "You're a big help."

"Wait, listen…I thought I heard something." David held up a hand and cocked an ear. Lara listened and found that she was hearing the sound of a helicopter outside.

"Zombies don't fly helicopters, do they?"

"They can't even navigate doors. We've gotta get to the roof, send up a signal of some kind!" David ran to the door on the east side, Lara in hot pursuit.

"Dave, before you start doing anything rash, keep in mind that we don't know what ELSE is in this station. The zombies outside all wore police uniforms."

"Well, we DO know what's topside, and I don't think they're going to hang around waiting for us, so we don't have much of a choice!"

Lara nodded and they went through the door, turned to their left…

…and saw eight zombies staggering towards them!

David yelled in surprise, but his Desert Eagle came up instantly and he fired, zombie heads exploding with the impacts, coating the hallway with gore. Lara, likewise, aimed for the legs, shooting off kneecaps and ankles. She was rewarded with the sight of the zombies being instantly crippled, forcing them to drag themselves along by their hands.By that time, David had them in his sights before the walking dead could get too close. When the last one dropped, they hustled forward past the group of corpses and stopped. "Where now?" Lara asked, adrenaline surging through her.

David looked around, then went to a pair of double doors. "I think there's a stairway going up just past these offices. Chief Irons and his staff work there, and there's a helipad on the roof. We can get out of here that way."

"Just be careful. Irons and his staff might still be here."

David nodded.

When they opened the door, they discovered that Lara was almost completely correct.

A mass of zombies wandered through the room here, and two had even corralled one of their own and had begun dining on her! As soon as the door opened, the seven zombies that weren't involved in dining immediately headed right for the two humans.

"Split up!" Lara barked and leaped into the air, landing on a long conference table and running like crazy. David made an end run around two of the zombies, capped another in the brainpan and leaped over a desk to head for the back of the room. Lara made it past hers, since the table was large enough to keep the zombies from reaching far enough to grab her.

David, however, ran into a slight problem.

He ran past the office of Irons only to feel rotting hands grab him and haul him back into the office. His back slammed against the wall and he opened his eyes to see a policewoman reaching for him. He aimed his Desert Eagle and pulled the trigger.

CLICK.

David barely had time to curse before the zombie-woman was on him. He caught her wrists, fighting down his revulsion as the woman snapped at him, trying to push close enough to take a bite out of him. David brought up his knee and felt something inside her give, then noticed a green froth at her lips. He realized what had happened just in time and moved sideways to avoid the torrent of acidic bile that gushed from her lips and ate into the wall next to David. He pushed hard, gathering his strength and twisting. She spun around and flew out the door of the office, crumpling into a heap but getting back up far too quickly.

"Why don't you just fucking DIE??!?" David yelled, popping out the clip and grabbing another from his pocket. He looked up and the zombie was…

"Sod off, zom-bitch. Nobody takes a bite out of him but me."

David looked behind the zombie, who had turned at the sound of Lara's voice, then dropped as Lara let the ex-policewoman have it with both barrels of the shotgun she held. The upper torso and everything above it disappeared in a fine red mist and David scrambled out from under the cloud of red vapor before any of it could touch him. "Thanks, I owe you one."

"You owe me _another_ one."

"Can we discuss the score later? We've got a flight to catch, remember?"

They sprinted up the stairs and ran out onto the helipad to be rewarded with the sight of a police helicopter waiting on the roof. David and Lara ran to the doors to see a pilot, looking ragged but very much alive, sitting at the controls. "Who the hell are YOU??" he asked as David and Lara opened the passenger access door.

"Who cares? We're alive and we want out of this psycho town! Any arguments?" David bellowed.

The pilot shook his head. "Is anyone else alive down there?"

"The only people we saw were the walking dead. Have you got a plan?"

"I'll take you both to a secure area, refuel, and then come back here."

"Are there any other survivors?" David yelled over the engines.

"Just three cops and a couple of civilians!"

"Any of them by the name of Claire Redfield??"

"Hope not. They're all men!"

"Hell's bells…" David sat back in his seat.

"Time to go!" The pilot pulled back on the control stick and they rose gracefully into the air.

Lara was on the verge of relaxing when he felt the helicopter halt in its ascent. "What's wrong?"

"There's another survivor down there!" The pilot started bringing the helicopter back down. David looked to see a somewhat portly officer waving wildly at them. His brow furrowed as he saw that he was holding a submachinegun.

They were almost to the ground when the helicopter's searchlight picked out two other figures lurching towards the survivor. The officer jumped away from the two zombies and made a mad dash to get away from them. When he got to the wall, he turned and hosed them both, sending all the lead he could fire into their torsos and legs, but it wasn't enough and they were on him, tearing into his body with their teeth and hands.

David suddenly moved to the access door and opened it, aiming his right arm out the open door as the dying survivor held down the trigger on his weapon, and the barrel of the submachinegun rose to point at the helicopter! David fired the line on his grapplegun and grabbed Lara, jumping before she could speak. The bullets riddled both pilot and helicopter, sending it to the helipad far faster than intended, landing on and crushing the zombies and their prey, exploding into flames as it hit the wall.

The pilot's troubles were over, but David and Lara's were only beginning.

David looked up at the piton drove itself into a water tower and they swung towards the roof of the police station, dropping on a roof overlooking the crash site. David and Lara looked down at the burning helicopter for a few moments, then Lara sighed. "Well, that's that."

"NOW what do we do?" David sat down, pulling his jacket closer around him. "Our chances of getting out of this town-turned-graveyard-turned-slaughterhouse just dropped to two: Slim and Fat. And Slim just became another zombie."

"Don't give up yet, David. There still might be another way out of here."

"Yeah? How??"

Lara caught some movement out of the corner of her eye. "Maybe she has a notion."

David looked to where Lara was pointing and saw a Chinese woman in a red dress and black leggings running along the roof of the building next door…running from four zombies. "Come on! Maybe she has some answers!"

Ada Wong stopped to catch her breath, but the zombies wouldn't let up and they had her surrounded. She fired her Beretta 9mm at them, but they just kept on coming. As she saw them reach for her, Ada saw the head of one of the zombies snap to the right, coming off completely. Then another lost its head and Ada broke into a run, leaving the last two behind. After twenty feet, she turned to see a man and a woman SWING down, firing at the zombies as if it was something they did every day right after lunch! They hit the roof and the man detached the line from a rig strapped to his wrist, then both strangers walked over to her.

Ada crossed her arms. "Let me guess. Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon on a date?"

"Not HARDLY." David pulled his sleeve back over his right forearm. "I'm David."

"And I am Lara. Now that we've formally introduced ourselves, who are you?"

"My name's Ada, Ada Wong. Pleased to meet you," she added, not sounding particularly pleased at all. "So, what brings you to Raccoon City?Boredom?"

"Actually, Ms. Wong, we came here looking for a friend. Her name's Claire Redfield. She's about mid-twenties, brown hair in a ponytail, favors red denims. Seen her?"

"No. The only survivor I've met is a cop named Leon Kennedy.But I remember that he talked to a woman on his radio and called her Claire."

"That might be her. She could've come here to look for her brother, Chris. So where is this Leon guy?"

"Down in the sewers. We're heading to the Umbrella underground complex in an attempt to stop this insanity and to find my boyfriend, John."

"Who or what is Umbrella?" David asked.

"Umbrella is a shadowy corporation who specializes in secret biological weapons research. Leon and I have found information that a biological weapon known as the 'G-Virus' is responsible for turning this town into a mobile cemetery. According to the evidence we've collected, the G-Virus turns people into 'zombies' with their aggression and strength increased tenfold while destroying higher brain functions and reasoning.Drop this stuff into a populated area and you destroy the people and turn them into carnivorous monsters who'll run around and attack any living thing they see or smell."

"What a bunch of bloody monsters!" Lara said, not referring to the zombies. "How could anyone make such a weapon?"

"It was apparently easy, since they'd done it before. They had first developed a bioweapon known as the T-Virus, with similar but minor effects compared to what the G-Virus could do. My boyfriend, John, may have been duped into working on the project…I haven't heard from him in months.The T-Virus created zombies out of people and monstrous creatures out of normal plants and animals. If what we've found is accurate, the G-Virus makes the T-Virus look like a skin rash." Ada led them to one of the doors on the roof and opened it, revealing a room with a pit dividing it in two.On the other side of the pit sat a bookshelf with a key on it. As Ada closed the door, she said in passing, "Also, unlike the T-Virus, the damage isn't limited to the first outbreak. The G-Virus can be carried by the initial subjects and can re-infect others. Anyone attacked and killed by a G-Virus creature becomes a zombie or creature an hour later."

"What a colossal screw-up THIS is…!" David sighed and sat down as Lara walked over to Ada.

"Need to get to the other side?"

"That would help," Ada said sarcastically.

Lara took a few steps back, then ran and jumped easily over the gap, landing on her feet and retrieving the key, then jumped back over to Ada. She took the key from Lara's outstretched hand, then said, "Showoff."

As Ada went back out the door, Lara said hotly, "What an unrepentant…!!!"

"Easy, Lara. Let's tell her off later. Survive now, play later, remember?"

"I suppose. Let's go."

They went outside only to find that they were now one survivor short. "Where'd she go??"

Lara looked around, then pointed to her right. "That way!" They sprinted across the roof to another building, a storage area of some kind where pumping machines and pipe rusted away. A sound of gears got their attention and they saw a shaft on the far side of the room. When they got there, they saw that it was an elevator of some kind…on its way down. "Left in the lurch by a louse on a lift," Lara said in mock humor.

David looked to the side of the shaft and found a switchbox.After pressing the UP button, he watched the engine providing the power to the elevator.After a few seconds of no change, he said, "Looks like we can call it back, but not until after she reaches her floor. We may not catch her."

"No…but she did leave us with enough information to pursue another idea. If this Umbrella Corporation has an underground lab, and that's where they made the G-Virus, they may have made an anti-viral agent to stop it. We find the agent and stop this wretched G-Virus in its tracks!"

"Isn't that what Ada and this Leon guy are trying to do?"

"I wouldn't trust Ms. Ada Wong to tell me that water was wet."

"We can't have the luxury of relying on others to do the job. They may not make it."

"You have a point. I'm just not eager to find out what else this G-Virus has created or mutated."

"Scared, Dave?"

"Shitless. You?"

Lara sighed. "Pretty much the same, Dave. But I learned a long time ago that standing around and wishing for something won't bring it about."

The lift came to the top and stopped. Lara turned to the lift and got in. David got in next to her. "Descending into Hell," he murmured as the lift descended into darkness.

It didn't take long to determine which way was the right way to go.

David and Lara found their way into the sewers, finding the bodies of men in an exotic form of SWAT gear lying about, torn to pieces by something with _large_ claws. David and Lara also found, with a little more exploration, papers implicating Chief Irons as part of Umbrella's disinformation program. They also found Chief Irons…or what was left of him. Something had torn him in two.

David also had a small run-in with the Mayor's daughter.

He had left Irons' little "treasure room" when he came upon a young woman lying on a bloody worktable, obviously the site for many of Chief Irons' taxidermy projects. She would've looked completely out of place in the grisly surroundings with her white dress, blond hair and perfect skin, if it weren't for the large red stain on her right side.David came over to check her out, but her body had no pulse and was quite cold.

He turned away from the scene and cursed Irons' insanity. "I hope they're toasting you with a long fork down in Hell…"

Then he felt a delicate hand on his shoulder.

Without pausing to think, he dropped out of the grasp of the hand and rolled forward, springing to his feet and spinning around. The Mayor's daughter was sitting up, her blue eyes open wide and staring. She turned her body until she was sitting on the edge of the worktable, then dropped down. Her mouth opened and she moaned as she lurched towards David as if testing her legs for the first time.

David didn't bother shooting her, he simply turned and ran like hell to the door, slamming it shut and locking it for good measure. He heard the zombie-girl pounding her fists against the door and took three very deep breaths, then ran back to the rendezvous point as if Satan himself was chasing him. He stopped only when he saw Lara's form standing at the bottom of the elevator. "What's wrong?' Lara asked.

"I…just had a little scare." David held up a hand and waited until his heart had reduced its speed to below Mach 2. "Find anything?"

"I think I found the entrance to Umbrella's little underground hideout. I also ran into some creatures along the way, tarantulas the size of Volkswagons and some humanoid creature with no eyes or nose and an extremely long tongue. Sound familiar?"

"That thing we saw on the road. That must be one of those 'lickers' from the diary back in the police station."

"I noticed that after I killed it, I went to the room beyond, came back and found the licker gone. What remained was a sticky clear residue."

"Great, these G-Virus monsters are biodegradable. How environmentally conscious of Umbrella."

"Such sarcasm from one so young, tsk tsk. In any case, I found a way into a much larger area. I also found someplace where we can rest a bit."

"I could use a rest. Let's go."

"How many do you have left?"

David checked his Desert Eagle. "Six. How many you got?"

Lara smirked. "Two REAL guns. Fourteen shots, plus two in the pipes."

"Smartass. We need to get some more ammunition somewhere. Let's hope that Umbrella was paranoid enough to construct an armory somewhere we can get to in a big hurry. This place is giving me the screaming whim-whams…and I've been chased by a fifty-foot tall gangster-cum-deity."

"I know. I was there, remember?"

"How can you handle all this sociopathic stuff, Lara? Zombies, ghosts, demons, giants, monsters of all shapes and sizes? I'm close to Brown Trousers Time and you're taking all this in stride like you get a dose of this every morning free with the Times! How??"

"Well, Dave…there came a time in my life when I was faced with the irrefutable proof that there were things in the universe beyond the scope of Man's knowledge, and that I had a choice: to decide between emotion and survival."

"Huh?"

"You'll understand it when your time comes, David. You're still too deeply rooted in your own scope of reality. You need to broaden your horizons, widen your worldview."

"I kinda like my worldview the way it is…it doesn't include flesh-eating zombies."

"And that's your problem, Dave. Like it or not, THIS is the reality of things. 'There are more things in Heaven and Earth that are dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio.' My job is to find out these mysteries before they show up on our front doorstep with a nasty attitude."

"The money doesn't hurt, either, does it?"

"Well, if you're going to get TECHNICAL…" Lara smiled and David smiled in return. "Feel better?"

"A little."

"Good, then it worked. Come along, Dave, let's stop a bioweapon."

Lara was unimpressed by the scope of Umbrella's secret base.After going through that whole debacle with Natla, Umbrella's equipment was horribly crude…but, unfortunately, still quite effective. After dealing with a trio of zombies hanging out on the main level, they found a guardroom and were relieved to note that it featured a stout metal door with a strong lock."Dave?"

"Yeah?" David said as he shot the bolt home.

"We're not alone in here."

"Oh, Christ!" David looked skywards. "What now?!"

"LANGUAGE, David. We're around impressionable children."

David turned around to see a cot on the right side. An young girl of eleven lay on it, her skin pale and beads of sweat on her forehead and cheek. Lara bent down and placed her hand on the girl's forehead."David, she's burning up!"

"Fever? She picked a bad time to get the flu…oh God."

Lara nodded. "The G-Virus. She's got it."

The thought of this girl turning into one of the walking undead grade-schoolers he saw when they first arrived sent a chill down his spine."How much longer?"

"No way of knowing. That means we've got to hurry."

David and Lara spread out, practically ransacking the room.They were rewarded with more bullets for the Desert Eagle, a key, some strange green herbs packed into small, bite-sized lozenges and a MAC-11, with extra clips. Lara claimed the submachinegun and the extra rounds while David reloaded. "Ready?"

"As ever. We'll have to split up, cover more ground. You head to the east, I'll take the west."

"Good luck, Lara. Don't get killed."

"You either." Lara kissed him quickly, then sped out the door into the depths of the base. David took a long, deep breath, and then ran after her.

Lara opened the door into the west, took three steps inside and came face to face with an eight-foot tall humanoid that appeared to be a combination of both plant and animal tissues. It turned and spit corrosive venom at her, but Lara had already sidestepped the plant-goon and headed down a ladder nearby. As she slid down, she was gratified to see that the plant-creature wasn't following her, but she wasn't quite so gratified to see the plant's mother.

Climbing up the huge shaft was a mutated version of Jack's beanstalk, at least sixty feet wide and reaching into the darkness above.Tentacles stretched out from the plant, grasping at anything they could reach, but thankfully far too short to reach Lara. Large bulbs of some clear resinous material covered the surface and hinted and more below the surface.

Inside each bulb was a person in the last stages of transformation from human to plant.

Lara resisted the urge to retch and turned to the door at the bottom of the ladder, opening it and going through, right into the gunsights of a strange man. "Hold it right there!" he yelled. "Don't move!" Lara froze as the man walked over into the light and she got a good look at him. He had sandy blond hair, a handsome face and wore an Raccoon Police Department riot suit.

"Wait…are you Constable Leon Kennedy?"

"Constable?" Leon lowered his gun. "You're a long way from England, lady, judging by your accent. Who are you?"

"My name is Lara Croft. I came here with a friend looking for Claire Redfield. Do you know her?"

"Know her? We've been in constant contact ever since we met earlier this morning. Why?" Lara told him the whole story about getting Chris' call and coming to look for his sister. "Well, I can tell you that Chris isn't here in Raccoon City. He's gone to the Umbrella Corporation HQ in Europe."

"Oh, bother! After all we went through…"

"Yeah, Claire was pretty disappointed about it, too." He pulled out a radio. "Claire, can you read me? Over."

"Read you, Leon. What's up? Over."

"There's a woman here who says she's here with David Connors."

"Dave??" Lara felt a twinge of jealousy at the sound of another woman using that particular term of endearment. "What is he doing here?"

"Looking for you, apparently. Says your brother asked him to find you."

"I'm afraid he found me too late. But there's no time for that now. Sherry's sick and I'm trying to find a cure. But we also need to find the way out!"

"Leon," Lara said, "I'll only be more than happy to help you find the exit. Tell Claire that if she's in the east section, David should be there in a moment."

"Claire, David's friend, Lara, says that David is heading your way."

"The first good news I've heard all day! You and Lara find a way out. Over and out."

Leon clipped the radio to his belt. "You any good with that gun?"

Lara grinned. "When the next rotten little beast comes around, I'll be only too happy to demonstrate my skill."

David turned the corner and caught a double armful of red-denimed Claire. "DAVE!!!" David fell back against the wall and sat down hard. Claire immediately got off him and knelt by his side. "Dave, are you alright??"

"Just…a second." David put his hand over the left side of his chest, felt there for a moment, frowned, then beat his chest hard three times in rapid succession. He felt there again and sighed. "Oh, good…IT'S BEATING AGAIN," he finished savagely. "JEEZ, Claire, you scared me outta decades' growth!! What are you, NUTS??"

"I'm sorry, Dave…it's just that I was so glad to see you," Claire said apologetically.

Dave got up and dusted himself off. "You could've chosen a less nerve-wracking way of doing it!" he said viciously, but some of the steam had abated. "I hate to interrupt your enthusiasm, but do you know there's a girl in the guardroom…?"

"That's Sherry. She's been infected, but I found some notes indicating that there might be a cure."

"Where?"

"That's the problem. I need to find a certain base compound stored in one of the labs. If I can find that and take that to the main lab downstairs, I can use some of the equipment there to synthesize a vaccine."

"Then let's go get it, what are we standing around here for?"David and Claire took off down the hallway. "Where is the compound?"

"I'm not sure. This place has been crawling with monsters! Not a great feature while on a scavenger hunt."

As if to prove her point, the ceiling in front of them crashed down and a huge form dropped through. David recognized it instantly. "Back off!" he yelled to Claire as he backed away and drew his Desert Eagle.Before he could shoot, however, a rush of hot air passed by his left side and the giant took the full brunt of a bazooka round! David backpedaled as Claire fired off three more rounds into the bulk of the behemoth, letting up only when she saw the figure stagger, then fall on his face. As David and Claire walked up to it, David asked, "What the hell was THAT?"

"It's a successful prototype of a Tyrant-003, end-result of the T-Virus research. Umbrella is field-testing them by using them to kill off all renegade G-Virus monsters and anyone still left alive to report back to the authorities about Umbrella's involvement. Fortunately, these things aren't too difficult to kill." She patted the bazooka. "Acid Rounds. Just the thing for clearing Tyrants out of your basement, and if you order now…"

"Save it for the TV infomercial, Claire. We've got a vaccine to find. My friend, Lara, is around here, too."

"I know. Leon's found her and they're working together now."

"More likely Lara found HIM." They came to a door marked V-LAB."Ladies first?"

Claire opened the door and five zombies inside turned to look at them both. She sighed. "I hate apartment-hunting with you, David. You always seem to find places with current tenants."

Then the zombies lurched towards them and things got very LOUD.

Lara was as good as her word. They only traveled a grand total of thirty feet when they came to a new door, one with two more of those plant-creatures hiding behind it. As soon as they sensed the humans' presence, the rampaging vegetables began flailing their rope-like arms around, trying to grasp either Lara or Leon and give them a bear hug they wouldn't live to regret.

Leon, however, was only too happy to show off a recent acquisition, a flamethrower that crisped one of the plant-things before it could spit a drop of venom. Lara, in her own sense of style, blew off her adversary's legs, then the arms, and put a burst into the main body."Consider yourself pruned," she quipped.

"Nice moves, lady." Leon looked around as they advanced further down the hall, coming into a larger room filled with four lickers. Lara made one dance with the impacts of the submachinegun rounds as Leon switched weapons and let the other three have it with a combat shotgun, nailing all three of them with each shot. After firing three shells, the lickers decided to lay down and die. "Damn! These things are getting tougher to beat the closer we get to the labs."

"Crawling up out of here must tire the poor dears out," Lara said unsympathetically. She went to the door on the far end and tried to open it. "Drat."

"What?"

"This door requires a Master Operating Disk to open it. The disk we need must have a complex code within it." She looked at the sign next to the door. "'EMERGENCY EXIT'. I think we've found our way out!"

"All we need now is the right key."

Lara walked a few steps away to a long corridor adjacent to the emergency exit. "What's down here?"

"Hopefully, an MO Disk. Let's go."

Claire looked at her clothes, dirty and spattered with gore."If I get out of here alive, I'm going to shower for a week!"

David holstered his gun and walked around the lab. A large machine reminescent of a CAT Scan machine stood against the wall and an operating table with medical machines sat at the far side. Claire looked at the machine against the wall. "Dave…I think I've found it! This machine holds a small supply of something called the 'base vaccine,' but it has more than enough for Sherry. Now all I need is something to put it in."

"Will this help?"

Claire looked up and caught a small vial tossed through the air. She looked at it, the tried to fit it into the machine. The pressure-valve lid of the vial fit into the nozzle of the machine perfectly. "Dave, I could kiss you!"

"Not a good idea. If I had to make a choice between Lara finding out and French-kissing one of those zombies, I'd be puckering up and looking for the nearest walking dead."

"Come on, Dave…I got over you a long time ago." She withdrew the vial. "Now we need to process it. Look around see if you can find a machine that'll do the trick."

David silently looked around. "Claire?"

"Yes?"

"Why DID you dump me, just out of curiosity?"

Claire sighed. "You were on the rebound from your late wife…I couldn't do that to you, Dave. You didn't need me, you just needed someone, ANYONE would do. I wanted you to want me, not because you had to, but because you wanted to."

David sighed. "So I screwed up. Story of my life."

"No, David, being in a screwed-up situation with a screwed-up relationship does not necessarily make you a screw-up." She stood up. "The machine we're looking for isn't here."

"Are there any other doors to look through up here?"

"No, we checked them all. It must be in the main lab, but I don't know where that is."

"I think I do. If these guys were building stuff underground, it stands to reason that they'd consider the most secure areas to be the ones built the deepest. Lemme see that radio." He took the radio from Claire's proffered hand and thumbed the TALK button. "Yankee to Brit, Yankee to Brit, come in Brit."

The reply came back, "Correction, Dave. DAMN Yankee."

"Lara, have you and Leon gone down any levels?"

"Why, yes."

"If you get to a lab, look around for a machine that processes vaccines. If you find it, let us know. We're going to stay up here and make sure our alternate route out of here is clear of pedestrians, if you know what I mean."

"Good idea. Stay in touch. Brit out."

Claire looked at David thoughtfully. "You love her, don't you?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna marry her, if I ever figure out how to do it."

"Really? You mean you haven't though of simply going to one knee and proposing?"

"That's not what I mean. I mean…ah, hell, I don't know what I mean. It's just that she's rich and I'm poor, she's educated and I'm not, she's…"

"Dave, who are you kidding?" David looked up. "If she loves you, and you love her, then it's as simple as that."

"No it's not."

"What's the problem, then?"

"It's…well, it's just that…"

Claire nodded. "Alright, you can play that act a little while longer. But after we get out of this alive, you and I are going to have a little CHAT."

"Bingo!!!"

Leon finished reloading the shotgun and turned. "What?"

"Look at this! 'Instructions for refining the G-Virus vaccine, code-named DEVIL.' We've found the machine to make Sherry's cure!"

Leon took out the radio. "David, Claire, we've found the machine that'll make the vaccine. Get down here on the double."

"How will we find you?" came back Claire's voice.

"We'll meet you at the stairs. Watch the plant at the top, he has a temper."

"You got it."

Leon put the radio away and ran to the exit, Lara close behind.

Halfway down the corridor, however, they ran into a different threat.A live one."Hold it!!" yelled a blond woman in a lab coat, holding a gun on Lara and Leon. "Don't even try it," she warned, "you're not fast enough."

"Who are you?" Lara asked. She was starting to get tired of all these surprises.

"Amanda Birkin, wife of William Birkin, the man who created the G-Virus." Leon looked coldly at the scientist. "What do you want?"

"I know what you and that spy are looking for. You're looking for this." She held up a small vial filled with a thick, purple fluid. "But I won't let you take it away from me OR my husband!"

"Is that…?" said Lara.

"Yes…the G-Virus, the ultimate bio-weapon! This is my husband's life's work! I won't let you or anyone else take it away, not even that Umbrella spy."

"What spy?" asked Leon.

Amanda looked contemptuously at them. "You really are stupid, aren't you? That woman…Ada Wong."

"You're wrong! She'd never do anything like that!"

"For a policeman, you're very naïve. Well, it doesn't matter.None of you will live past this moment for what you did to my husband."

Suddenly, a piercing screech filled the air and a loud thumping noise came from above. "What is THAT?" Amanda asked, looking up.

"THAT is your husband, Amanda. That thing up there is William."

Amanda looked back at them, a stricken look on her face, then turned and ran down the corridor, turning to the right and disappearing from view. Before Leon or Lara could run after her, a blood-curdling scream filled the hallway. Lara and Leon rushed to the source of the noise and that's when Lara saw a sight that would haunt her for years.

Standing a full ten feet tall in the hallway was a humanoid monster unlike any she'd ever seen before. It was covered with mottled blue and pink skin, stretched over powerful muscles. It had two sets of arms, one set long and viciously clawed and the other set little more than vestigal. Its legs were strong and clawed as well, the remains of a tattered set of slacks covering the upper half of the legs. The head was small compared to the rest of the body, on a thick stalk of muscle and barely resembling a human's face. The skin over the left side of its chest was the most shocking detail…it was a human head, set flush with the muscles of the thing's chest. It moved independently of the rest of the body, opening its twisted mouth as if it was trying to speak, but nothing was coming out. The claws of its right upper hand were sticking out the back of Amanda's body.

Leon and Lara raised their weapons in unison and fired, damaging it, but only superficially. Before they could cause any more damage to it, the monster dropped Amanda and leaped up into the ceiling.Lara ran to her side as Leon covered the ceiling with the shotgun.

Somehow, the scientist was still alive. "Here…take this. I…was wrong. It ruined…my husband's life and the life of my daughter."

"Sherry??" Lara asked, bewildered.

"Yes…save her. Get her away…and tell her…tell her that I'm sorry I wasn't a good mother…" Amanda shuddered, then went limp.

Leon took the vial from her hand and held it up. "Hard to believe that this little thing was the cause of so much pain." He put it in her pocket.

"Come on, Lara! We've got to get to David and Claire before that thing does!"

The four people met in the hall. Lara and David flew into each other's arms, not even noticing that both of them were covered with the blood of several different kinds of monsters. Claire smiled gently, then sidled up to Leon. "Now doesn't that make you feel good?"

Leon watched the tonsil-lock for a few moments, then said irritably, "I HATE to interrupt, but we've still got a little girl to help, remember??"

David and Lara hastily disengaged, both blushing a little. "You're right…terribly sorry," Lara said politely.

Claire held up the vial. "Here's the vaccine!"

Then the entire hallway started flashing red. David threw up his hands in exasperation, exclaiming, "Oh, WHAT NOW???"

In answer, a synthetic female voice answered through the PA system, "+All personnel evacuate immediately. All personnel on the upper level must leave through the elevator. All personnel on the lower level, report to the Emergency Exit. Supervisors, retain Master Operations Disk for Emergency Exit.+"

"A self-destruct? What happened??" Lara looked around.

"Who cares? We've got to get out of here. Lara, take Claire down to the Vaccine Processor. David, you and I have to secure our escape route. We'll take the elevator."

"Gotcha." He turned to Claire and Lara. "We'll meet you downstairs…and don't talk to any strangers, okay?"

Claire and Lara nodded, then hot-footed it back to the ladder leading down. David turned to Leon. "So where's this elevator?"

"Right this way." Leon ran towards the three-way intersection in the middle of the upper level. "I found a Master Key that should take us to our escape route, whatever means that is. Can you fly a plane?"

"Yeah."

"Good, because I can't and I'm not sure if Claire or Lara can.Once we get there…"

"STOP!"

David and Leon stopped in mid-run, finding Ada Wong standing in their path, holding her pistol up and aiming it at them. "Don't move!"

"Ada, what are you doing??" Leon asked, bewildered. David tensed, ready to pop his Desert Eagle up and blow her off the face of the Earth.

"Give it to me, Leon. Just give me the G-Virus and no one will get hurt."

"How could you do this, Ada? You're willing to risk our lives for the G-Virus? Hasn't it destroyed enough already?" asked David.

"Don't move, Mr. Connors. You may be fast, but not THAT fast."

"Ada, listen to me. You don't have to do this," entreated Leon."Let's just get out of here and forget about the G-Virus."

Ada wavered. "You don't know what it means, Leon. It's worth billions to Umbrella."

"It's a mistake and it should never have been made. Look around you…this is the kind of world that created the G-Virus. Do you want to be a party to that?"

Ada looked at Leon for a long time, then finally lowered her gun. Leon took a step towards her.

Suddenly a crash came from above and all three of them looked up to see a huge form leap from above, landing in their midst. The Tyrant-003 turned to Leon and Ada, then raised his fists high to crush them both, then let them fall…

"NOOOOOO!!!" Leon yelled as Ada pushed him away at the last moment, taking the full brunt of the overhead smash. She crumpled to the ground. Leon saw the thing raise its arms again and then saw a chunk of its skull rip away from its body. It turned to see David aiming his Desert Eagle at it, all fear gone from his face, replaced by a cold rage.

"No more, do you hear me?? NO MORE!!"

The Tyrant came at David, walking in its inexorable stalk, but David didn't run, emptying shot after shot into the monster's brain. One, two, three, and it still kept coming. When it was only a foot away and David fired his seventh shot into the Tyrant's head, only then did it stagger and fall. David looked down at it, his breath coming harsh and fast, then fired one final shot into the back of its skull, destroying what was left of its head. He savagely kicked the body, saying in a cold, hard voice, "Get up, you bastard, so I can knock you down again!"

"David!"

David turned to see Leon holding Ada. "Is she…?"

"No…but she's badly hurt. I don't know if we can chance moving her."

David felt the entire complex shudder and a huge gout of flame climbed its way up the shaft across from them. "Chance it. We've gotta go!"Leon nodded and carefully picked up the wounded Ada. David led the way, adrenaline roaring through his brain as he opened the door and promptly blew away the zombies that had gathered just beyond it, pushing past their falling bodies as he headed for the elevator, only pausing to get Sherry from the guardroom. Leon was close behind.

"Leon…I'm sorry…" Ada managed.

"Ada, just relax, don't talk. We're going to get out of here…ALL OF US."

David opened the elevator and searched the panel of buttons by the door. Finding nothing, he turned back to the wall at the rear and saw a small screen with another button, this one with a keyhole in it. "Leon, I need that key now!"

Leon lowered Ada's legs and tossed the key to David, who quickly jammed it into the keyhole and turned the key. The elevator started to move down, then a loud noise of metal making contact with metal and the sound of gears sliding. The elevator began to move down and sideways. "Ada, hang on," Leon said in a whisper.

David watched the screen as a display came up, indicating that the car was moving down to and area called the Main Track Level. "Main Track…Leon, our escape route isn't a plane. It's a TRAIN."

Lara looked around, her foot tapping against the metal floor of the Main Lab. "How much longer?" she asked impatiently.

"I don't know….wait. YES!" Claire withdrew the vial from the machine and looked at the blue liquid within. "It's done!"

"Good. Let's leave this place!"

Claire and Lara got to the Emergency Exit Door when Lara smacked her head with the palm of her hand. "The MO Disk!"

"You mean this one?" Claire held up a Master Operations Disk.

"Where'd you find that?"

"Upstairs. A zombie was holding on to it for me."

"Rather bloody nice of him." Claire inserted the MO Disk and the door opened. They ran through a short hallway to a door with a symbol that Lara was very familiar with. The room was marked with a red circle with three red V's radiating out from it, curling into hooks. "'BIOHAZARD.' Looks like Umbrella was planning this for some time."

"Maybe…let's hope it goes up with the rest of this place." Claire opened the door and they went through, finding themselves in a room with ten large containers of red fluid, stacked in two equidistantly-spaced rows.

"They will."

"You've had experiences with biohazard development?"

"More than I care to like, believe me."

The two women ran to the other door and Claire pressed the lone button on the right side of the doors. The doors behind them closed and they felt the room moving slowly down to an area marked on the display as the Loading Dock. As they looked up at the display, mentally wishing they could accelerate the room, they saw a plate in the ceiling suddenly warp with a loud BANG!! Before Lara could say the words, Claire said them for her. "Oh no, NOT AGAIN!!!" They jumped backwards at the monster that killed Amanda Birkin dropped down and faced them. Not only was it still quite alive, but Lara saw that it had gotten BIGGER! The two women turned and ran a good twenty feet away before turning towards the "G-Tyrant" and let the monster have it with everything they had. Lara emptied the shotgun and Claire let the monster have it with incendiary Flame Rounds.

It was over after a few shots…and then it got worse.

The G-Tyrant dropped, bleeding from several places, then began to mutate and grow even bigger. As it grew, it altered it's configuration, going from humanoid to something that looked more like a bulldog from Hell.The front half was a mass of long, saber-length teeth surrounding a giant maw.It rushed at them and they split up. It chose to chase Claire first, leaping into the air and landing on the wide bar of metal holding the canisters in place, pacing around as it looked at Claire.

Lara climbed up on the other row of canisters, discarded the empty shotgun and took out the MAC-11. As Claire hammered it with what bazooka rounds she had left, Lara emptied the machinegun into the bulk of the G-Tyrant's body. Although the G-Tyrant managed to damage Claire, it was no match for the combined firepower of the two women and dropped like a brick just before the elevator reached its destination.

"Are you alright?" Lara asked as she dropped down. Claire said nothing and pulled out a small packet of herbs, placing them on the wounds.As Lara watched, the gashes and cuts healed instantly. "What is THAT?" she asked.

"Some of Umbrella's other accidental research. Some of these herbs, when exposed to the T-Virus several months back, gained the ability to regenerate damaged tissues. One kind even healed poisoning."

The door opened. "We'll have to discuss that later. Come on!" They ran out of the room and entered a long hallway that twisted and turned, opening out into a large area. They stopped as they saw a train depot just ahead. "That's our ride out of here!" Lara said triumphantly.

David looked up as Leon set Ada down on a bunk in the train car. "How's she doing?"

"Not good. Her?"

"Her head's a furnace. When I checked her eyes to see if they'd dilated, I found that her irises were turning red. If they don't get here soon…!" He stopped as he heard Lara's triumphant yell. "It's them!!" He got up and ran outside, Leon on his heels.

"Can we go now?" Lara asked.

Leon looked ahead of the train, seeing a gate locked in place.Also, there was no power to the train. "Lara, Claire, go back into the train. See if you can find a way to raise the gate. David and I will look around to find out how to get the train powered up."

The ladies nodded. "You might need this," Claire said as she tossed her radio to David, then ran behind Lara to the train. David ran to the rear of the train depot while Leon ran to the stairway leading to an overpass that enabled him to get to the other side of the depot and the door just beyond.

David ran to another hallway, finding three more zombies wandering around. By now, his fear of them had long since gone south and he gave them little thought as he aimed and fired down the hallway, decapitating all three with one in-line shot. "You guys are REALLY starting to bug me," he gritted, running past them and finding a door just ahead. He entered the room to find two large plugs, like spark plugs. One red, one blue.

"Leon," he barked into the radio.

"Yeah?"

"Keep on the lookout for two large sockets that look like they'd need some sort of power connector shaped like a spark plug."

"I just found them. I was wondering what they were for when you called."

"Perfect! I'll meet you on the overpass and hand them to you, then check on the ladies. Sound like a plan?"

"I'll be there."

Claire applied the Mixed Herbs to Ada's wounds, relieved to see them healing before her eyes. Lara ran into the car from the rear. "How's Sherry?"

"I gave her the vaccine…that's all we can do right now. Did you find anything?"

Lara held up a key. "I believe this might fit the control panel to the gate in front of us. Let's just hope that Dave and Leon get this ride rolling and soon."

Suddenly, the red lights were joined by the sound of the synthesized voice again. "+Warning. You have five minutes to reach minimum safe distance.+"

"Come on, Dave, HURRY." Lara said anxiously.

David tossed the plugs to Leon. "Go, go, GO!" he yelled, then turned and ran back down the stairs. Leon ran back to the power room and put the plugs in their sockets. The lights suddenly dimmed and a display came up on the screen beside the power box.

"+The power is now being re-routed to the train. Please wait for the emergency power to power up the doors.+"

"Great! Now I can't get back to the train until the power gets back up…! Well, at least things can't…"

A loud BOOOM!! from behind him made him turn around. The G-Tyrant was crawling out of the hole.

"…get any worse…???" he finished hollowly.

Lara watched the gate rise away from the front of the train, then saw David running back down the stairs. "Are we clear??"

"Almost. Where's Leon??"

"Back in the power room."

"+Warning. You now have four minutes to reach minimum safe distance,+" said the electronic warning system.

David looked behind him. "Where IS he? It shouldn't take him this long to plug in a couple of plugs!" He ran to the door to the power room and pulled. "It's locked!!!"

Lara saw a vent leading into the ceiling. "David, get to the train. Help Claire and the others. I'm going after Leon!"

"+Warning. You now have three minutes to reach minimum safe distance.+"

Leon fired three times at the G-Tyrant, but it was bigger and meaner now, and it shrugged off the shotgun blasts easily. He ran away as the thing rushed at him, but he was tired and it wasn't long before the G-Tyrant clawed him across the room. He slammed against the wall and shook himself, fighting the blackout as hard as he could.

Lara dropped down from the vent and looked down at Leon from her place on the balcony. She looked around for something that could help Leon, then spotted a long, rectangular object. A smile came to her face.

Leon pulled himself to his feet and watched the thing walk towards him, a smile on its disfigured face. It knows it has me… Leon thought.

"Hey, Leon!" Leon and the G-Tyrant looked up to see Lara dropping a large rectangular object into Leon's grasp. "Use this!"

The G-Tyrant looked up at Lara for a moment, then down at Leon, who was removing the safety pin from the firing mechanism of the rocket launcher.

"Bye-bye, big guy," Leon said and pulled the trigger.

The rocket leaped from the housing and sped right at the G-Tyrant, arming itself as it left the housing. The monster took the blast full in the stomach and it blew a hole the size of a tractor tire out of the G-Tyrant's midsection. As Leon lowered the launcher, the lights came back on and he heard a click as the door unlocked. He looked up to thank Lara, but she was already gone.

"+Warning. You now have two minutes to reach minimum safe distance.+"

Lara, Leon and Claire reunited in the train car. "Where's David?" Leon asked as he came in.

In response, everyone felt the train start to move. It gained speed as they all went to the front to see David pushing the main levers forward. He turned as the train picked up speed. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are OUTTA here!!" Everyone cheered and Lara ran into David's arms.

Leon looked disgustedly at them. "Do they ALWAYS do that?"

"And what's wrong with that?" Claire asked.

Leon relaxed. "Nothing, I guess." He walked back into the main car and Claire followed, joined shortly by an ecstatic Lara and David. When Claire saw Sherry, she ran over to her and touched her hand.

"Sherry? Sherry, please wake up…!" David and Lara sobered as they watched. "Sherry!"

Sherry's eyelids fluttered open, revealing a natural blue underneath. "…Claire…?"

"She's alright!!" Leon said, enormously relieved.

Claire hugged Sherry tightly, then looked at her. "My guardian angel protected you." Sherry looked down at Claire's jacket, which Sherry had used as a pillow. David and Lara noticed that it had a picture of an angel on the back with the legend, "Made In Heaven" stenciled over the angel's head. "And she will go on protecting you, as long as you live."

Leon stood up from his crouch next to the cot. "It's finally over."

"No." Everyone turned to look at Claire. "I have to find my brother."

"You're right…" Leon looked down at the unconscious, but living Ada. "This is just the beginning…"

And that's when the train shook like a rat in a terrier's jaws.

Everyone turned to the back of the train. "NOW what?!" David asked.

"Let's check it out." Claire ran to the rear of the train and opened the door.

"Claire, wait!" Lara and David ran after her, Leon only a step behind. They all opened the door to the car behind them, ran in and stopped.

The rear of the train was FULL of the G-Tyrant.It was now a gigantic amorphous mass of eyes, tentacles and

massive jaws, moving its way up the length of the train, foot by foot.

David turned back to the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn't open. "It's STUCK!!!"

As one, they all nodded, drawing what weapons they had left and facing the G-Tyrant."HOSE IT!!!" Leon yelled as the tentacles reached for them and they opened fire, Lara with the submachinegun, Leon with the rocket launcher, David with his Desert Eagle .50 and Claire with her bazooka.Round after round after round leaped from their weapons and struck the monster. Leon dropped the empty launcher after the second shot and drew his combat shotgun, pumping lead into the thing as fast as he could. It got closer and closer, until they could feel its tentacles grasping at their legs.

"I'm out!!" Claire yelled, throwing the empty bazooka as hard as she could at the G-Tyrant.

"Me too!" Lara said, seeing a set of jaws on a stalk of muscle reach for her. She jammed the MAC-11 into the mouth as hard as she could, breaking off teeth and causing the mouth to fall back.

David fired the last of his bullets just as a tentacle reached out and grabbed him around the legs, pulling him into the air. In response, David tossed aside his gun and drew a knife, cutting himself free and slashing at any tentacles brave enough to get closer.

Finally, with two shots left in his inventory, Leon fired and watched the creature shudder, then slump, starting to melt. He turned and fired another shot into the door, blowing it off its hinges. He did the same to the door ahead of him and tossed the now-useless weapon aside, running into the locomotive. "We've got to stop the train!!" David yelled.

"Why?" Lara asked.

"That thing gets bigger every time we 'kill' it!! We've got to stop the train and blow it up, incinerate that thing completely!"

"How?" asked Claire.

"The train's self-destruct mechanism."

"Jeez, does EVERYTHING Umbrella make come with a self-destruct??" Leon went to the door to the cab, then stopped. "The door's locked!!!"

A tremendous, bone-chilling shriek came from the rear of the train and everyone turned to look behind them. "Great. NOW we've made it MAD…!!!" Leon groused.

"I can do it!" Everyone turned to look at Sherry, who was climbing, previously unnoticed, through a vent leading from the main car to the cab of the engine. David looked through the window separating the two.

"Sherry, the self-destruct is a big red button on the right side of the console! Push it, hurry!!!"

Sherry looked around, then found the button and slammed her small fist on it. A countdown began on the console and the brakes slammed home, causing the train to lurch on the tracks. By the time Sherry crawled back out, everyone was at the doors, waiting for the train to come to a halt. Leon was carrying Ada.

Then David made the mistake of looking out the windows to the rear of the car. Huge tentacles were winding their way from the back of the train, pulling the G-Tyrant forward. "Ah, SHIT…"

The train finally came to a halt and the human occupants bailed out. "RUN!!" Leon yelled, but everyone else had already taken his advice, sprinting for the mouth of the tunnel just ahead.

Inside the train, the G-Tyrant had pulled itself to the front cab. A flashing light caught its attention and a huge, slitted eye focused on it. The light was the countdown timer, and by the time the eye came close enough to realize that it wasn't something good to eat, the countdown read: 00:00:02.

The eye widened.

An earthshaking explosion ripped through the tunnel, completely vaporizing the G-Tyrant and incinerating the vapor a microsecond later. The explosion continued through the tunnel, incinerating everything as it billowed out to the exit, causing a blinding flash and a thick cloud of black smoke that climbed into the air.

David, Lara, Leon, Claire and Sherry stood up from their landing spot on the side of the tracks, dusting themselves off as they watched the cloud climb into the air. Ada lay on the grass, her eyes flickering, then opening as far off in the distance, the town of Raccoon City was merrily burning away from the fires started by the initial disaster and by the destruction of Umbrella's base.

"Well, guys, can we relax now, or is another life-threatening situation going to arise in the next few minutes, because I want to know whether I can faint in safety," David said sardonically.

"I think we can relax, Dave." Claire hugged Sherry close.

"Good…because I am COMPLETELY out of ammunition." David sighed.

EPILOGUE

Claire walked out of the hospital room in Augustine, a small town seventy miles away from what used to be Raccoon City. Lara and David stood up, both bandaged in several places. "How is she?"

"Ada's going to be fine. The doctor says her bones are healing nicely and there's little nerve damage. She should recover completely."

"She's going to have a lot to answer for before all this is over." Lara said as they walked to the waiting room. "The government is involved and there's going to be hearings and everything."

"From what Leon tells me, she'll be fine. Her lawyer says that she'll get immunity once she tells the judge everything about Umbrella."

David sat down. "What about Raccoon City?"

"Burned to the ground. The government is hushing the whole thing up and they're scouring the area with troops armed with anti-tank weapons. They're taking no chances. However, from what I've gotten from some of the higher-ups, all they're finding are small pools of slime. Looks like the G-Virus ultimately kills the infected." Claire sighed.

"How's Sherry? Doing well, I hope?"

"She's just fine. Doctor says there's no trace of the G-Virus, but he wants to keep her around for observation."

"You don't sound too thrilled," Lara observed.

Claire leaned a little closer to Lara. "The doctor's been looking for any trace of the G-Virus because I think the government wants something to reverse-engineer the G-Virus back into existence. The traces of the G-Virus monsters have come up negative; the degradation of the rotted tissues make any virus retrieval impossible. The Umbrella base was completely destroyed, so there's no help there, either. As soon as night falls, I'm taking Sherry and we're leaving to find Chris."

Lara nodded. "We'll be more than happy to take you along with us when we leave. We're heading back to Europe, and as I recall, that's where Chris and his friends went."

"Exactly. Plus, it'll give us time to catch up on old times, David."

David sat back in the chair. "I'm gonna miss Raccoon City."

Claire said morosely, "Me, too. A lot of people died there…and none of them needed to." Lara took Claire's hand and the two women smiled."But, with any luck, Umbrella will pay dearly for what they've done."

"Well, no offense, Claire, but Lara and I have enough adventure in our lives. You'll excuse us if we pass on helping you out in this."

"David!" Lara said indignantly.

Claire waved her off. "It's okay, Lara…besides, this is my fight, mine and the other members of the S.T.A.R.S. team. There's no need for you to get involved."

"Nonsense! If you need our help, we'll gladly give it."

Claire looked at Lara. "From the look on your face, I believe it. Alright, when we track down those responsible, we'll let you know if we need any assistance. Until then…"

"Until then, you and Sherry can stay at my place. It'll give you a base of operations where you can rest and plan. I have a big house and there's no use refusing. I've made up my mind."

David sighed. "Don't try fighting her, Claire, she's as stubborn as you are. More, probably." He turned back towards the hospital room. "You think Leon's going to be okay?"

"They'll be fine." Claire smiled. "In fact, I think they're really going to get through this okay."

"Well, just in case, I left them our number." David said, "and if they need to get away from those guys at the Pentagon, I'm sure we can work out something."

"Always the knight in shining armor, eh, David?" Claire's smile widened.

"Please…!"

"David, if you'll pardon me, I need to go make arrangements for our flight home. Claire, it's been a distinct pleasure meeting you." Lara stood up and went to find a telephone. As Lara turned a corner, Claire stood up, went to the chair next to David and sat down. Without another word, she leaned over and planted a solid kiss right on David's lips!Before David could register what was going on, Claire had already sat back in her chair.

"That was nice."

"Claire, are you NUTS?! I thought you said you were over me!"

David hissed.

"Well, not completely…" Claire admitted. "You are one hell of a guy, you know…and I miss what we had together."

"So now that I'm involved with Lara, you pull this stuff on me?? You ARE nuts!"

"No…just a bit regretful. You might say I needed one last kiss goodbye."

David looked at Claire in disbelief. "You're not nuts…you're CRAZY…"

"Maybe. But I wanted to let you know that there won't be any problems between us, especially now. As much as I'd like to, I can see now that you're in love with someone else. Which REMINDS me…why haven't you proposed to her?" Claire punched him in the shoulder. "And don't give me any of this, 'I'm not rich enough, I'm not good enough' bull. What's the REAL reason?"

David sighed. "Why is it that everyone I know keeps asking me that question?"

"Because we love you, ya big dope."

"Look…I'm just not ready yet…"

"Translation: you're scared she'll turn you down."

"Well…….yes. Are you happy? I said it." David looked down. "I don't want to lose her because of my big mouth."

"Hmmm…she struck me as the girl of girl who might find your mouth quite good at…"

"CLAIRE!"

"Just kidding." She grinned. "David, for a smart guy, you can be pretty dumb at times. Can't you see that she is as crazy about you as you are about her?"

"The crazy part I believe."

"And on that note, would you like a lecture on the nature of persistent denial?"

Claire peered at David for a while until it was clear to him that she wasn't going to let the subject drop or change. "Well…maybe…"

"Then stop waiting around. Life is too short as it is, David.You're wasting it waiting around for the kind of personal justification that just doesn't exist. Tell her how you feel and what you want."

"And if she turns me down?"

"Then at least you'll know, and maybe know why. But this way, you'll never know."

David suddenly felt extremely tired. "Alright, I'll do it."

"Now?"

"SOON."

Claire went back to her own seat. "Better do it soon, Ace. Or else…"

"Or else, what?"

"Or else I'LL propose to her before you do."

"Claire, is it your goal in life to try to shock me every chance you get?!"

"Nope, just a hobby." Claire grinned. "Fun, isn't it?"

David was still shaking his head when Lara came back in. "So, what did I miss?" she asked pleasantly.

The nurse walking down the corridor had to go back to the waiting room to caution the people there that they had to stop laughing so loudly, this was a HOSPITAL after all…


	18. Achilles' Heel, Part I: The Spear

**Achilles' Heel, Part I:  The Spear**

**By C. Mage**

"David?"  Lara called upstairs as she got home.  "David, where are you?"  _Man's never around when you need him…well, almost never.  She checked through the mail, sorting bills and watching for suspicious packages.  "Mannfred?"_

"Yes, MiLady?"  Mannfred walked out from the pool room.

"Do you know where that man has gone?" she asked, mock irritation in her voice.

"As I recall, MiLady, he's outside, working on the obstacle course.  I suspect he's working on trying to beat your best time.  Again."

"Ah, to dream the impossible dream."  Lara chuckled.  "Let him work up a sweat for a few more minutes, then let him know I need to talk with him."

"Another expedition, MiLady?"

"Not this time.  This time, the artifacts have already been unearthed."

"Out of town?"

"Yes, we're going to Athens, Greece."

"Shall I pack the Type B or the Type C luggage?"  Type B was luggage packed with general purpose clothes as well as a small supply of firearms and ammunitions.  Type C was nearly identical, except for more clothes, evening wear and only a pair of pistols.

"Type C.  No sense asking for trouble.  Be sure to pack my red evening dress, and make sure to pack that gray Armani that makes Dave look exceptionally handsome."  Lara smiled.  "I'll be in my office."

"Very good, MiLady.  Will there be anything else?"

"Yes…give Dave fifteen minutes before calling him in."  She smiled inwardly as she walked upstairs.  _Dave looks marvelous when he's worked up a sweat._

David checked his time and frowned.  _Dammit__.  A full five seconds short.  Who do I have to kill to beat that time??  He went to the bench and drank some bottled water, then toweled himself off.  __Maybe I need to start toning more, reduce my muscle mass.  Dave considered, then shook his head.  __I'm just tired.  I'll carbo-load tomorrow morning and see if I can't push through the pain barrier.  _

As he picked up his towel and walked inside, he felt the cool air on his body and sighed gratefully.  A sound drew his attention to his right and he saw Mannfred walking towards him briskly.  "Master David, Lara is home and in her office.  She'd like to see you as soon as possible."

"I bet.  I'll head up now." David walked upstairs and approached Lara's door, then stopped.  He grinned, opening the bottle of water and pouring it over his head, shaking his hair.  He looked down at himself, smiling, then knocked.  "Hey, Lara, you in?"

"Come on in," she said with a secret smile, making herself look business-like as David came in, glistening with beads of water on his body, his hair shining. Lara took one look at him and dropped her pencil.  _I wonder…if it would stimulate his ego…if I leaped over the desk…and had him…right there…on the floor…?_

"Lara?" David asked with a smile.  "You okay?"

Lara blinked, regaining her composure.  "Uh, yes, of course, why wouldn't I be?" she said, barely able to hide the stammer.  "David, I'd like you to get packed.  We're going to see a woman about a spear."

"Excuse me?"

"There's an exhibit being opened at the Museum of Athens.  One of my competitors, drat the luck, may have found the tomb of Achilles.  I've been asked to visit the Museum before it officially opens to help authenticate the artifacts, make sure they are what they are purported to be."

"You don't sound too excited."

"It's nothing…I was just a little irritated that…well…"

"That he found it before you did?"

"Go ahead, lord it over me."  Lara grimaced a little as she picked up a sheet of paper from the printer.  "We leave in three hours.  Mannfred's handling the packing, I have our itinerary ready, so all that's left to do is get cleaned up and dressed and get to Heathrow.  Anything you'd like to do…before we go?"

"Yeah…"  David took a few steps over to the desk and leaned over it with a smile.  Lara leaned forward as well.  She closed her eyes slightly in anticipation. She sighed as she heard the words: "…I'd like to see if maybe I can't beat your time on the obstacle course."

_WHAT???  Her eyes opened as she saw him leave the office.  Lara sat there for a few moments, then stood up.  She shook her head.  "Dirty rotter," she murmured.  "Now I need another shower.  Sooner than expected.  I suppose I should be glad that cold water is in abundance here in England…"_

"Okay, fill me in.  The tomb of Achilles?"

"Yes.  Ever heard of him?" Lara asked as the steward came by with cocktails.

"He was in the Trojan War, wasn't he?"

Lara gave him a look.  "After all the studying you've done, I pray that you have more information on the subject, if nothing else to prove that you didn't spend all your time on the computer playing video games."

"Alright, let me see…Achilles, son of Peleus and Thetis, a minor goddess in the grand scheme of Greek mythology.  His mom gets a vibe that he's going to be a great warrior and he's barely a toddler, so she decides to hedge her bets by taking her son to the River Styx and dipping him in the waters to make him invulnerable.  However, he's not entirely invulnerable.  Somehow, in true tragic Greek fashion, she misses one area of his body; his heel, which she was holding.  Nobody ever bathed their kids thoroughly in those days, I guess.  She feels safe for a while, until she gets a message from an oracle telling her, 'Sorry, Thetis ol' gal, but you missed a spot, and someday, somebody's going to nail him right in his all-too-vulnerable heel beneath the walls of Troy.'  Determined to keep him from dying in this fashion, she decided to taken him to Chiron, a centaur who taught the greatest heroes of Greek mythology.  Seems Chiron was an all-purpose guy, not only training Achilles in how to fight, but in other things like music, art, philosophy and poetry.  Kinda speaks up for the benefits of daycare."

"Pray continue."

"I will.  Where was I?  Oh yeah, Chiron.  You know, Lara," David mused, "He could've saved himself a lot of trouble and avoided his fate by becoming a farmer or something.  There's a certain nobility in farming."

"Well, if he had, people wouldn't be reading about him now, would they?  Besides, Fate has a tendency to have the last word."

"Yeah.  Anyways, once his training was done, he went back to Mom and Dad, but no sooner did he get back than Mom began to worry.  Things were heating up between Greece and Troy.  Some wiseguy named Paris had run off with the famed and beautiful Helen after being suckered by the goddess Aphrodite.  Seems Aphrodite, Athena and Demeter, I think, wanted this golden apple, and they asked Paris to pick the goddess most worthy of it.  Naturally, in time-honored tradition, the contestants began bribing the judge in order to get the apple.  Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful woman in the world, and Paris gave her the apple.  What Aphrodite had neglected to mention was that Helen was already married to someone else.  So, as soon as Paris took off with Helen, the king of Greece started calling upon the greatest heroes of Greece to help him get his wife back, heroes like Ulysses and Ajax.  As soon as Thetis heard this, he sent Achilles off to the court of Lycomedes, dressing her as a woman so no one would find him."  David paused.  "Guess Klinger didn't come up with that idea on his own.  Anyways, the Greeks start losing, so Ulysses went looking for Achilles.  Ulysses posed as a merchant, selling trinkets and knick-knacks, but he also had some weapons for sale.  He saw a woman pick up a sword and wave it around like she knew what she was doing, so Ulysses figured he'd found his man, or woman, whatever.  Ulysses, the silver-tongued devil, managed to persuade Achilles to come to Troy and fight alongside the Greeks.  At some point, he was given a special spear, but there isn't a lot of info that tells where he got it or who he got it from.  The only references to it tell of when the Greeks landed on the shores of Mysia, the King of Mysia, a guy named Telephus, decided to challenge the Greeks.  He was wounded but a spear thrust from Achilles and withdrew, but the wound wouldn't heal.  He followed Achilles right into his camp outside Troy after pleading to the god Apollo, god of healing, for help and getting a reply, 'Only that which wounds can heal.'  Achilles made an ointment from the rust of the spearhead and used it on Telephus, healing him.  Kinda like using snake venom to create an antitoxin.  In any case, you know the rest of the story, Trojan horse, lots of battles, tragedy on both sides.  Achilles loses his bud, Patroclus, to Hector, and Achilles kills Hector out of grief and revenge.  Hector's son, Priam, goes to Achilles' tent with the help of Hermes and they agree to a truce to let their dead be buried and mourned.  Achilles falls in love with Priam's daughter, Polyxena, but Paris, who happens to be Polyxena's brother, finds out about Achilles' weak spot and shoots Achilles in the heel as Achilles is riding away from his wedding to Polyxena.  Things go downhill from there; Ulysses and Ajax fight each other over Achilles' weapons, Ajax loses and kills himself out of grief and loss for his friend and his weapons, Ulysses goes on the Odyssey, kept from going home for a decade, and Polyxena kills herself right on Achilles' tomb.  Roll credits."

"Not quite the end of the troubles borne of the Trojan War, but that's where Achilles' part is played out.  Not bad, Dave, I guess you were awake after all."  Lara smiled.  "Here's where the mystery gets interesting.  No one knew for sure where Achilles' weapons actually went after Ulysses won them from Ajax.  Many believed that Ulysses took the weapons with him back to his home on Ithaca, spoils of war, but others believe that Ulysses fought Ajax not to keep the weapons for himself, but to keep Ajax from taking what should've stayed with Achilles.  Many believe that Ulysses had the weapons buried with Achilles in his tomb, then purposefully destroyed all records leading to the location of the tomb of Achilles to keep his grave from being robbed.  Like all legends, there are many different rumors as to Achilles' crypt, the protections around it, its location…I find it difficult to believe that Carla Toran managed to find it."

"You never did tell me exactly who this Carla person is.  In fact, I don't recall you ever mentioning her name."

"That's because she's a tuppence fortune-hunter.  Her only claim to fame is her incredible luck, that and her ability to associate with every sort of low-life known to man.  I find it difficult to understand how someone with her lack of knowledge, skill or couth could've managed to solve a mystery that has baffled people smarter and more knowledgeable."

"Luck?"

"Luck runs out, David.  I thought hers had run out some time ago.  In any case, I wouldn't be surprised to find that her so-called discovery is a complete fraud."  She nodded and took out her laptop.  "That's why I'm determined to be there to show the world what a charlatan she is."

"Gee, you're not bitter."

Lara turned to David.  "David, this isn't personal for me.  Many in my line of work are considered glorified grave-robbers.  Archaeologists exist to discover and learn about cultures that are long since gone.  We have little choice sometimes than to enter places we're not supposed to…there's nothing else that exists to tell us how things were before our time.  We have to learn about the past to learn about the mistakes we've made, as well as learn about the good we've done so we don't forget that humanity is capable of doing great good as well as evil.  I…"  She stopped as she saw his expression.  "You have that you're-preaching-to-the-choir look on your face."

"Very observant."

"Very well, Dave, I'll get off my soapbox.  I need to discuss a few things with you about Carla, as well as the Museum's curator…"

"Well, well…Lara Croft."  Carla was a tall, strong blonde, attractive in a rough sort of way.  David figured she was Swedish, but she was dressed in tans and browns, favoring the fashions of the Australians, rugged, but clean leather, denim and flannel.  "How nice to see a woman of your stature at my humble presentation."

"Carla.  It's a pleasure to be here."  Lara smiled back at Carla.  

David looked between the two women, seeing far too many teeth.  "I hate to interrupt this pleasant meeting, but it's late, it's been a long flight, could we get down to brass tacks?"

"In a hurry, Mr. …I don't believe I caught your name."

"Didn't throw it.  David Connors."

"David…yes, I've heard about you.  May I call you David?" she said with a winning smile.

"You can call me the Tooth Fairy if it'll help move things along."

"Charming.  I see the time you've spent with Lara has not been wasted.  It's obvious you've become much more cultured since you left America."  Carla walked down the hall and led them through the Museum to the exhibit room.  "As you can see, this find had garnered quite a lot of recognition on the world scene.  People from all over the world will be here for the presentation on Friday.  The Greek government, as you may have guessed, is more than pleased to be the recipient of a national treasure like this."  She smiled and she spread her arms to indicate the treasures displayed in glass cases.  "Imagine the prestige…"

"I hate to interrupt, but I'm going to need some information before I can put my seal of approval on any of this.  Remember, Carla, if I'm not satisfied that every single artifact here is completely genuine, I'm going to close down this exhibit and the curator will back me one hundred percent."

David expected Carla's smile to strain in the face of that kind of threat, but her smile seemed to widen, become more smug.  "Care to up the ante, luv?"

"What did you have in mind?" Lara asked suspiciously.

"If the exhibit turns out to be completely on the mark, I want you to publicly admit to the newspapers that you were wrong about your slanderous remarks alluding to my 'dubious' qualifications as an archaeologist."

David rolled his eyes upwards.  

Lara smiled wickedly.  "And if there is one jar, one sliver of clay that doesn't satisfy me, I'm going to reveal you to the world for what you are, a profiteering fortune-hunter and smuggler."

"Done.  You have four days to prove me wrong."  Carla walked away with a smile.  "Have fun.  You might want to start with the Spear of Achilles at the far end of the exhibit."

Lara stopped.  "You recovered the Spear?"

"Not bad work, eh, for a 'profiteering fortune-hunter and smuggler'?"  Carla left the chamber with a smile.

Lara looked at David, then headed towards the end of the exhibit.  David took off in hot pursuit.  He raced to where Lara stood, transfixed in shock.  A long bronze spear sat on a pedestal, completely encased in glass reinforced by metal along the edges and corners.  The spear within had a broad head, made of a silvery-gold metal with small patches of odd blue discolorations on it.  The spear was easily more than two meters long, made for a giant of a man.

"Lara?"

"I don't believe it."  She went to the case and opened it, examining the spear carefully.  Her fingers traced over the joint between the head and the shaft, looking over the marks worn into the metal.  

David walked up behind her and touched her shoulder.  "Lara?"

"David…this is the spear of Achilles."

"Are you sure?  You've only looked at it for a moment or two."

"I'm sure, David.  I don't know how she did it…but she found it," Lara breathed.  "Help me check the others.  There are still other artifacts to examine.  Here's what I need you to look for…"

Carla went to her hotel room and sat down on the bed, peeling out of her clothes quickly.  She'd always hated the formal part of this deal.  Carla would've felt perfectly happy just selling the artifacts, taking the money and finding herself on some tropical island less than a day later.

Unfortunately, she'd made a deal.

She took a long, hot shower, then dressed in a sportsbra and panties.  As she toweled her hair, the laptop plugged into the wall beeped at her.  Carla sighed as she opened it and looked at the e-mail origin.  Her exasperation turned to mild alarm when she saw who the e-mail was coming from.  She took a deep breath, then opened the e-mail.  After reading the document, Carla shivered and quickly deleted the e-mail, then went back to her bed and sat on it, hugging her knees to her chest.  When she finally went to sleep, she left one of the lights on and huddled under the blankets.

_Please, God, don't let me dream tonight._

David looked up from his resting place by the wall.  Lara had been up all night, checking out every antiquity recovered from the tomb of Achilles.  She was currently working on a pair of swords found in the tomb.  Her face was framed by stray hairs loosened by hours of relentless, meticulous work.  "Uh, Lara…don't you think you should take a break?  You've been at this for hours.  Want something to eat, drink, sleep on?"

"I'll be done in just a while."

"That's what you said three hours ago."

"And the 'while' in question isn't over yet, is it?" she asked irritably.

"Right…I'm going to go get something to eat."

"Fine," Lara said dismissively.

David sighed and got up, feeling his knees crack.  He walked through the halls of the Museum, feeling circulation go back through his legs.  The security guards let him outside and he walked across the street to a small family restaurant.  _I wonder if they have Western omelets here, he mused.  _

David felt rotten.  He'd seen Claire Redfield disappear without a trace, and finding her brother was equally difficult.  Lara was something else entirely.  She and David had gotten closer, after a fashion, but there was something about their relationship that was starting to bother him.  Being sexually intimate together was not an issue anymore; in fact, the two were becoming somewhat adventurous in that respect.  But whenever the subject of marriage came up in conversation, David was the only one to toss it out…and Lara never caught it, always changing the subject.  She was as deft in steering the conversation to other subjects as she was in shooting a dime in midair at fifty yards.  

After a few attempts to bring it up, David was starting to avoid the subject himself…because he was afraid of the answer. 

They didn't have Western omelets.  Once David explained the concept, they said, "Yes, we can do a mushroom omelet."  

He sat down, ignored the menu, asked for a drink of water and some fruit juice, then leaned back in the booth and looked around at the nearly vacant restaurant.  There was a surreal quality about it all, being in a different country, Lara Croft being difficult and frustrated, and feeling pretty much out of the loop.  _Okay, let's examine the situation, get things back into perspective, for fuck's sake.  Lara Croft gets an invite from someone she says is on the low end of the totem pole in the archaeological circuit.  So low, in fact, she's considered the part of the totem pole that's buried.  Suddenly, she comes up with the find of the decade and throws it in Lara Croft's face.  Matter of pride, person wants to vindicate herself in the eyes of her peers.  Can't really blame Carla, after all, nobody likes being thought of as a lowlife.  I oughtta know.  So she comes upon a huge find by dumb luck…_

David stopped.  Something felt wrong.  _Dumb luck.__  How does anyone find a discovery like that by dumb luck?  He was starting to understand Lara's frustration.  _

"Sir?"

David looked up to see a waitress with a steaming plate of mushroom omelet.  "Yeah, sorry, got stuff on my mind."  She smiled at him and put the plate down.  He took a bite and smiled in return.  "Hey, this is good!"

"Well, our cook had a little help.  One of our apprentices went to America a few months ago, and studied some of the local cuisine."

"Always good to broaden one's horizons, believe me…"  David's voice trailed off.  He suddenly grabbed his jacket and stood up.  "Look, I gotta go, what's it come to?"

"Aren't you going to eat your omelet?"

"Could you box it up for me, put it in a doggie bag?"  He handed her a lot of drachmas, hoping he gave her the right amount for the omelet and a healthy tip.  As it turned out, he gave her a day's wage, but she didn't feel like correcting him.

"Lara!"  David burst into the exhibit area.  "I've gotta talk with you…"  He stopped as he realized that Lara wasn't alone; Carla was there with her.

"About what?" Lara asked sourly.

David thought fast.  "I found a place across the street that does Western omelets!"

"My God, it talks," Carla quipped.  "Lara, you have an apology to write for tonight, don't you?"

"Agreed, Carla.  I don't know how you did it, but you've finally found something important and did the right thing with it.  I commend you on becoming a legitimate archaeologist at last."  Lara stressed the last two words just a little.  

"Happens to the best of us, I'm sure." Carla was not as subtle putting emphasis on the word, "best".  "Now, Lara Croft, I'm sure you're going to be quite busy working on the press release for tonight, so I would appreciate it if you would leave so I can finish up the preparations for the unveiling on Friday.  No offense, Lara, but I just don't want you around until the unveiling."

"Well, then, as long as we're being blunt, then I'd like to say that I think that you're taking up space intended for people who spend their lives searching for knowledge.  You, Carla, are a parasite trying to sell off history for the sum total of what it's constructed of, not what it's truly worth in historical significance."

"Ancient history, Lara…and you know it.  This is no petty theft, nothing has been stolen and I received a pittance for the artifacts.  Tell me, is that the act of someone looking for a fast buck?"

"You tell me."

David walked over and took her arm.  "Come on, Lara, before you start smacking her around," he said with a smile.  

The tall blonde looked over at Lara.  "Oh, please, try it.  Make me a happy woman."

"Let's go, Lara…!"  David was now dragging Lara out, who looked angry enough to try to wipe the floor with Carla.  "You don't need this kind of aggravation!"  Lara didn't answer, but if looks could kill, Carla would've been a walking obituary.

Only after they left the Museum did Lara say, "That bitch," and look balefully back at the Museum.

"Please, Lara, don't sugar-coat it on my account."

"The utter gall of her…how dare she…?!"

"Listen to me, Lara, we've got bigger fish to fry."  David steered her to a bench.  "Listen, this whole thing stinks, right?"

"How observant, David.  With a little training, you could be a detective."

"Lara, do you want to figure this out or not?  I've got some ideas, but if you want to sit here and bitch, I'm going back to the hotel and wait for you there."  He stood up and walked towards the curb.

"Dave…wait."  Lara took a deep breath.  "I'm sorry.  The woman just infuriates me.  She's the worst form of charlatan."

"Then stop fixating on her apparent success and help me on this.  Here, have some of my omelet, it's got mushrooms."

Lara sighed, then managed a smile.  "I am a bit peckish."  She opened the Styrofoam box and sniffed, her smile broadening.  "Thank you, Dave.  So…what are your ideas?"

"Listen, I think I have an idea, but it's pretty thin.  Consider this question before answering: could she have found the tomb of Achilles?"

Lara thought, remembering all the resources that were open to Carla, considering her background carefully.  "The odds are so against her, it isn't even laughable."

"Now think about this…what if she had help?"

"Who'd want to help that conniving, backstabbing cu…"

"Lara…" David said warningly.

"I was about to say, 'conspiring witch'," Lara said defensively.

"Sure you were.  Now come on, Lara, focus.  Would she get help from anyone, anyone with the resources to locate the tomb?"

"Not legitimately.  No reputable museum curator would touch her with a ten-foot cattle prod."

"Lara, there's an old rule in the detective biz.  'When in doubt, follow the money.'  Let's consider the quasi-legal sources."

"Humph.  The line starts at the left and goes around the block…a few hundred times."

"Narrow it down…hmmmm…alright, they're letting her keep the find and get credit for it."

"Unusual.  Most of them would've simply paid her off, kept the find and sold it to some private collector or agency.  Any legitimate museum would have reported it, more publicity for them and they'd get a better chance of keeping the artifacts."

"What about the people at this museum?"

"Doubtful.  I know the curator, he wouldn't have accepted the artifacts."

"Not even from the tomb of Achilles?  This guy's the equivalent of George Washington and Arnold Schwarzenegger combined, some museums would've sold their eyeteeth to get those artifacts as part of an exhibit."

"I doubt it," she said, but her voice was unsure.  "I need to look around the area before the opening, maybe do a little second-story work."

"Here we go.  Try not to get into trouble, okay?"

"Who?  Me?"  Lara smiled.  "I just need to burgle Carla's room."

"Great.  A felony.  Do me a favor, bring back everything you find.  After all, I used to do this sort of thing for a living."

"And I'm certain you were quite the expert."  Lara smiled genuinely.  

"Just do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Don't get caught.  I don't want this to be another Mexico City."

"Honestly, Dave, you will never let me live that down.  It was just one time."

"You were posing as a contestant in an all-woman oil wrestling competition, without my approval, I might add.  All to get close enough to pick the pocket of a Mexican police officer, of all people."

"He had the key to the tomb!"

"Don't start.  I had to bail you out of a Mexican jail…"

"We could afford it."

"…and bring you a trenchcoat so you could leave without showing off what God gave you while wearing an oil-drenched white T-shirt and bikini bottoms."

"I got the key."

"I don't even want to know where you hid it to pass the searches at the police station."

"Yes you do…" Lara said teasingly.

"Focus, Lara?"

"Don't worry about me, Dave.  I can handle myself."  She got to her feet.  "No need for bail money."

David watched her as she left, sighing.  That was how she seemed to look at everything the last few months, always with a joke of some kind.  He felt more than a little rotten since she seemed to fend off all attempts of conversations about their relationship.  As much as he hated to think it…David had the distinct feeling things were going to come to a head, and their relationship was not going to survive it.

Lara looked up at the hotel room where Carla was staying.  _Why must they always choose the highest floor in the place? she thought, taking out the grapplegun and aiming high.  The viewfinder picked out Carla's balcony quickly and Lara fired the line, waiting until the claw at the end secured itself before looking around.  She was dressed in her "sneaksuit," as David termed it; a thick polylatex bodysuit that covered her from the neck down, including a set of gloves with built-in climbing claws and matching boots.  Lara also wore a pack on her back and a utility belt, the same color black as her suit.  She engaged the power winch on the gun and rose into the air, carefully moving out of the way of windows and hanging from the balcony, twenty stories up._

Inside the room, she could hear Carla talking on the phone.  Lara pulled out a pistol-gripped device and aimed it at the corner of the sliding glass door and fired.  Two adhesive pads spat from the from of the device and attached themselves to the window, picking up the vibrations of Carla's voice and relayed them to the earpiece in Lara's ear.

"I understand the concept, but I don't understand why I have to be there?  Can't your people handle it?  This wasn't supposed to involve me and you know it.  You're right, I don't know what your reasons are and I don't care!  Too right, I want this over with, and I want my cut!"  She was silent for a time, then said, exasperated, "Fine.  Look, I'm going out to establish an alibi at the clubs.  I'll meet you there at midnight.  TRY not to be late."  She slammed the phone down and Lara winced.

_Ouch.  Had the volume up too high.  She turned down the volume and waited outside.  Carla got dressed in a club outfit just this side of illegal, then left the room.  Lara pulled herself onto the balcony and looked inside through the drapes.  __Good.  I thought she'd never leave.  She tried the door and found it open, sliding it back with a smile.  No one locks the hard-to-get-to doors.  Lara moved into the room, closing the door behind her.  As she stepped forward, she looked up as the hotel room door opened._

"I can't believe it…"  Carla walked in and went over to the dresser, opening the top drawer.  "It's insane how expensive everything is."  She put the purse around her waist and looked around at the room.  Carla frowned.  She could've sworn something was different.  After a few moments of looking at the room from the door, she sighed and left the room, far from a partying mood.

The room was silent for at least ten minutes before Lara poked her head out from under the bed.  "Well, Lara, shall we cut it a bit closer next time?" she admonished herself as she crawled out, frowning as she looked at the dust covering the front of her suit.  "They should fire their housekeeping staff."  She dusted herself off, then looked around the room, taking out a slim case from under her pack, opening it up and walking over to Carla's laptop.  "Now…let's see what sort of secrets your secretary has."  She plugged the case into the laptop's USB port, then ran a decryption program to turn the portable computer on and bypass the password entry protocols.  She began flipping through her folders, opening up anything that looked interesting.  Lara also used the hotel's network to access Carla's e-mail.  "Let's see…the usual spam…my, my, I never knew you were into that sort of thing.  You must get so distracted at petting zoos…not to mention…oh my.  I knew you had interests in the Crown Jewels, but not in the dungeons also.  Online shopping…nothing much…ooooh, wait, that place looks interesting.  It's so hard to find good quality leather products nowadays."  She saved the information to the case's hard drive.  "Ships overnight as well..."

Lara stopped as she saw what Carla had in her e-mail.  Carla had received some e-mail, and dumped it in the Trash Can, but she hadn't emptied the Trash.  There were two pieces of e-mail, both from someone who knew how to mask their e-mail addresses somehow.  "Jackpot."

To: ctoran09@hotmail.com

From: ?????????@?????????.???

Date:  ??/??/????

Re: The exhibit

You are to make sure the Spear is available tomorrow night at midnight.  Change nothing in security measures.  Make sure Lara Croft and David Connors are not within ten miles of the Museum at midnight.  Your Swiss account will be credited the remainder of your payment one hour after successful completion of the midnight operation.

Any variation of these conditions will result in the termination of our arrangements.

To: ctoran09@hotmail.com

From: ?????????@?????????.???

Date: ??/??/????

Re: The Spear

Call the number.

Lara stared at the e-mails.  _I knew it!!  I knew she couldn't have made this discovery by herself.  Someone's pulling her strings.  She checked her watch.  Ten o'clock.  __Whatever's happening, it's happening tonight at the museum.  All I have to do is get over to the museum and warn Dave before Carla and her friends come calling.  At this time of night, I can be at the museum in a half-hour…plenty of time._

She walked to the door and looked outside, turning her head to the left and right.  Left, nothing, right…four goons coming down the hallway, heading straight for her with unfriendly expressions on their faces.  She ducked back into the room and locked the door.  "Time to depart," she muttered to herself as she backed away from the door.  "Perhaps they're not looking for me?"

The door burst inwards with a shower of splinters, leaving the locks hanging on the door. Lara's eyes widened as the men walked in purposefully, not even bothering to look around.  They were like heatseeking missiles and all four had a target lock on Lara Croft.

Lara respected strength and purpose, but she had no plans to stick around and wait to be the object of such determination.  She bolted, drawing her gun and firing at the window, shattering it and running through the falling pieces as she took one look at the grapplegun and wrote it off as a business expense, leaping off the balcony into space.  The four men rushed to the edge of the balcony and watched Lara plummet to the ground, then their faces twisted into expressions of hot rage as they saw Lara's body suddenly grow a wide expanse of silk from her back as her rate of descent slowed.  Lara's parasail brought her gently to the street below.  As the chute settled around her, Lara detached the chute and looked around.  Her car was nearby, sporting newly flattened tires.  "BLAST!" she swore, seeing a van with Greek writing on the sides and a picture of a Greek athlete holding plumbing tools parked two cars back.  The door on the side opened and three more men piled out, all with the same determined look on their faces.

_Starting to think I should've asked for Luggage B…!_

David looked up from the brochures the museum supplied at the door about tourist sites and tour information.  He'd been walking around the exhibit for the last few hours, looking over the security measures put in place around the museum, some as part of the museum and some installed specifically for the exhibit.  After going through the area time and time again, he decided to hang around and wait for Lara.  Unfortunately, the bookstore was closed.  

"What do you know…the Parthenon has its own website?"  David shook his head.  "Wonders of the world never cease."  He put the brochure down and looked around.  _I hope she hasn't gotten in over her head again.  Yeah, as if that wasn't going to happen sooner or later.  He stood up, stretching, then decided to get his blood flowing by taking a little walk through the museum, double-check the Achilles exhibit.  He walked across the marble floor, hearing his footsteps off the walls.  __Geez__, this place is big.  A guy could walk half the day before getting from one side to the other.  Place feels like a cathedral.  All we need is some hunchback swinging through a belltower…_

He stopped.  Something was wrong.  He hadn't seen any of the security guards in the last ten minutes.

David immediately moved towards the Achilles exhibit and looked around.  The area was as he left it, all the artifacts intact, but the guards were absent.  He felt a sensation on the back of his neck, an all-too-familiar one.  _Aw, shit, we're about to get hit..._

As if on cue, the skylights on the roof shattered, ropes falling through and figures dressed in black dropping through the openings.  David ran behind one of the statues and peeked around it to see them land, bearing submachineguns and nightvision goggles.

_Dammit__, Lara, where the hell are you?_

Lara would've loved to have been in the museum to answer David at that point in the evening.  To be exact, she would've really liked to be anywhere else on the planet except trying to climb a four-story building without the use of climbing gear…or a suitable headstart.  The three huge men behind her were hot on her heels, and only her Olympic-level speed and endurance kept her from being pounded into a grease spot.  She spared a look back long enough to see one of them smash through the side of a van as the men crossed the street.  "Lovely," she puffed, "annoying AND unstoppable…!"

Lara leaped up, catching the side of a ledge on a hotel and pulling herself up to the next floor.  She didn't waste any time and started shimmying up one of the fire escape ladders as she heard the crunching sounds of the three giants climbing after her.  As she got to the roof, she looked across the roof to see other buildings, taller ones.  The beginnings of an idea began to form and Lara sprinted across the roof, loud footfalls following her relentlessly.  "Come on, boys…don't let me down now!"  She smiled, gritting her teeth and she pushed herself harder, running faster until she reached the edge of the roof and jumped, stretching her arms out to grab the edge of the roof in front of her.

She missed.

David looked around as the figures hit the floor and scanned the area.  One of them spoke in a feminine voice, "The other one might be around here.  Comb the area, restrain and detain, but do not kill him.  Go."  They spread out and put their guns away, pulling out taser batons.  David leaned against the statue, looking for an avenue of escape, then saw the hallway leading to the Hall of Medieval Exhibits.  It was only fifty feet away.

_So much for my detailed plans to live to a ripe old age.  He waited for a few moments, then took off for the Medieval Period.  Don't let them see me, don't let them see me, don't let them…!_

"There he goes!  Get him!"

_God, tell me.  Why doesn't that prayer ever work…and why the hell do I keep using it?_

Lara's heart stopped for a brief moment as he hands missed the lip of the roof and gravity began to catch up with her, then her hands managed to grasp the windowsill of the top floor window in front of her.  She looked back as the three men charged forward regardless, leaping towards her.  Two of them slammed into the wall and grabbed hold, their fingers digging into the stone, but the third didn't fare as well.  He bounced off and fell five stories to the ground below.  If Lara had any doubts as to whether the fall alone would've stopped the behemoth, those fear were allayed as the creature hit the set of steps below with a resounding CRUNCH.  "Poor luck," Lara quipped, then saw the other two just below her, making their way up after her.  "Don't you two have any other pastimes?" she asked as she pulled herself up to the roof, sprinting across it to the other side and leaping to the next building, a shipping warehouse.  She felt the roof give under her weight as she landed and smiled, moving to the middle and stopping as if taking a rest.  The two remaining juggernauts leaped across, then fell through the roof, plummeting to the concrete below.  Lara watched as they fell, their stoic expressions unchanging as they dropped like bricks.  "Sometimes, gents, size does matter…but not the way you thought."

She was about to sit down to catch her breath when something occurred to her.  The thugs after Carla and her couldn't have been simply a coincidence.  And that meant… "The museum!" she exclaimed, running to the side and looking down.  "Wonderful…and I already used my parachute and grapple.  How the devil am I going to get down without breaking my neck?"

Her search brought her to a grimy drainage pipe and she sighed.  "Always the hard way."

David ran past sets of archaic Greek armor and ducked under a mockup of a Greek tri-maran.  He couldn't hear the mysterious figures but he knew they were close.  _Great, pros with sophisticated gear…five'll get you ten that they're the ones who gave Carla the assist. But why go to all this trouble?  Why couldn't they have just found it themselves and taken the goods?  David looked around the corner, then jerked his head back as bullets ripped into the wood of the boat's hull.  __Silencers, how considerate.  David looked around, then looked up at the cable support lines holding the boat in place.  He smiled for the first time that night, then reached down and pulled out his holdout, a 38. snub-nosed revolver.  He aimed up at the support anchors and fired, chewing one loose, then two.  The three figures dropped down where they were moving up on David's position, thinking he was firing on them.  David looked at the remaining two supports, then looked at his gun.  It had taken two shots each to pull the first two anchors loose._

David fired once at each support.  The bullets hit the supports, but the anchors held.  "Shit."

He heard them getting up.  "Dammit!!" he snarled and ran forward, pushing against the ship on the platform.  "Move it, goddam you!"

The three figures got up from the floor, hearing the desperation in David's voice and walking towards his hiding place.  "Take him alive…the Master wants him alive," said one of the female figures, then stopped as she heard a groaning noise.  She looked up and saw wood fill her vision, then a sharp pain, then nothing at all.

David moved out from behind where the ship used to sit and edged around where it now rested on the floor.  Alarms were going off everywhere.  "Now that's what I call a Greek tragedy," he quipped as he saw the blood seeping out from under the ship.  He picked up one of the dropped submachineguns, pulling it free from the arm stretched out from the edge of the ship, then looked up.

_The spear._

David hotfooted it down the hall, back towards the Achilles exhibit.

"So, honey, whatchoo doing for dinner later?"  Flavio smiled as he drove towards the museum.  "Never gone out with an archaeologist before.  Must be pretty exciting stuff."

"You have no idea.  Couldn't you perhaps drive a little faster?" Lara asked.

"What's the hurry?  The night's still young…"  Flavio smiled winningly.  "…and so am I."

"I'm meeting a friend there…"  Lara thought fast.  "SHE and I are going to go clubbing see if we can meet some…wait."  She moved closer to him, putting her hand on his shoulder.  "You see, she and I have a special relationship.  She means a lot to me, and we haven't seen each other in a long time.  If you get me there fast, I'll talk to her about inviting you to our little reunion…that is, unless you don't like the idea of two women touching each other…"

She was immediately interrupted as Flavio stomped on the gas pedal and she fell back in her seat.  Lara smiled as she righted herself.  _After all, one should always develop the skill if knowing the right thing to say in any social situation._

Number 12 stopped in front of the case, looking it over and removing his respirator and hood.  Number 37 did the same.  He smiled as he produced a key for the case and opened it.  "Well, Carla, it's about time you got here," he added with great satisfaction.

"Your Masters were pretty persuasive," Carla added sourly.  "Let's get this over with."

"Why are you in such a hurry?  I thought you'd want to savor this.  Not only have you made headlines with your discovery, but the theft of this will guarantee the luxuries of book and talk show deals…you'll be able to have your wildest dreams of fame and fortune come true."  He took out the spear and turned to her.  "Just look at it…isn't it marvelous?  A thing of beauty."

"Yeah, whatever."  Carla looked around.  "Look, I'm tired of this.  I just want what's coming to me.  Just give me my cut and I'm outta here."

Number 12 handed the spear to Number 37 and nodded.  "Right over there, Carla."  

Carla turned and looked in the direction Number 12 had indicated, but only saw a statue.  No briefcase packed with money.  Then there was nothing at all.

Number 12 smiled as he cleaned his sword on Carla's evening gown.  Number 37 shook her head.  "Killing Carla was not part of the plan."

"The Masters will thank me for saving them the cost of paying off this idiot, and her death will confuse the matter.  The police will be chasing their tails long after we've gone, and no one will know who truly stole the spear."  Number 12 sheathed the katana.  "They will be proud of me."

"Not likely, SPUD."  The two assassins turned to see David turn the corner, holding a cellphone.  "I'm afraid the police are gonna crash the party a little earlier than you expected."

"YOU…!"  Number 12 turned to 37.  "Kill him."

"We should just leave!" she protested.

"No witnesses!  KILL HIM!"

Number 37 drew her blade.  

David sighed.  "It's going to be one of THOSE nights…"

"Here we are, beautiful."  Flavio smiled as he slammed on his brakes in front of the museum.  "Where is she?"

"She's probably inside…it is rather chill outside.  Just wait RIGHT here.  I'll be right back."  Lara knew she was being cruel, but an arrogant young man's ego played second fiddle to David in Lara's book.  Her suspicions were confirmed as she saw that the guardpost just inside was empty, as well as the front desk in the foyer.  _I suppose we'll just add one more piece of property damage to my bill, she mused, removing a small pack from her jumpsuit and placing it on the lock.  __It's getting to the point where I may have to start writing off the damage I cause on my journeys as a legitimate business expense._

Flavio watched her as she stepped back from the door.  A large BANG shot through the air and he jumped, then looked around in a panic.  Sirens and flashing lights appeared behind him, closing in on his position.  _Oh my gods, I just brought a master criminal to rob a museum and the second she hits the police, the police show up??  No wonder the crime rate is dropping!  He started up the car and took off.  "Sorry, girl, but no two girls are worth going to jail for!"_

Lara chuckled as she saw her ride drive off.  "Left in the lurch by a lech.  Typical."

David heard the explosion and smiled.  "Still some time to give it up, lady and gent.  The cavalry just showed and the fat lady is on in five."  The female agent advanced on him, holding the blade up warningly.  She didn't waste time with talking, marking her as a pro.  "Nothing to say, lady?  No snappy patter?  Just like a woman, wants me to do all the work…"

"How's this?  I hope you enjoyed being in Lara's employ, Mr. Connors, because you're about to get fired…!"

"Fire, huh?  Lucky I brought this."  David pulled around a fire extinguisher, holding it like a club.  

Number 37 moved forward, then stopped and started to chuckle, bringing the blade to bear.  "You brought a club to a swordfight.  It's a wonder why Lara Croft stomachs your presence for as long as she has."

That comment brought a hard edge to David's face and he yanked the pin on the extinguisher with a thumb, firing the chemical spray at Number 37 at point-blank range.  The yellow dust filled her lungs, leeching the oxygen from her and she dropped the blade, grabbing her throat in a vain attempt to try and breathe.  David suddenly swung the red tank around, nailing Number 37 on the side of her head and knocking her to one side.  "Well, you know what they say, lady…'once I pull the pin on Mr. Fire Extinguisher, he is no longer your friend.'" David dropped the tank and picked up the katana.  "Nice knife.  Hey, Laughing Boy, where are ya?  Don't tell me you ran out on dinner and left your girlfriend to pay the check!  Now that's just _wrong, buddy…"_

Lara ran into the room, coughing at the haze of yellow in the room.  "David!"

David turned around.  "Lara!  What kept you?"

Lara smiled.  "Only you…DAVE!"

David raised an eyebrow, then turned suddenly and slashed with the sword, cutting only empty air as Number 12 ducked under the slash.  "Mr. Connors…you talk too much."  Number 12 shoved the spear forward, imbedding it in his stomach.

"_DAVID!!"_

David didn't hear Lara's cry, only felt a coldness spreading through his body.  He didn't feel Number 12 rip the spear free, didn't see him running for the rope hanging from the skylight and throwing down a fist-sized object as the rope rose abruptly.  All he knew was the cold…

"How is he?" Lara asked hopefully.

The doctor turned from David's side.  "It's not good.  The wound has been closed, the damage stitched up, but the wound isn't healing.  I'm filling him with coagulants, but the medicine is only just holding off the internal bleeding.  There some substance in his body that won't let him heal.  Come with me."  The doctor led Lara to a laboratory and held up a petri dish with spots of blue gel inside it.  "I've tried every test I can think of, but I can't discern what this substance is.  It's a metallic element that has a low melting point, approximately eighty degrees.  Instead of a liquid state, it maintains a gel-like consistency up until the point where it becomes gaseous at just over one hundred and eighty degrees.  In its gel state, it seems to act as an inhibitor for cell growth and regeneration.  That's why David won't heal."

Lara looked at the substance for a long time.  Dr. Wills studied it as well, then turned to see Lara's expression, intense and speculative.  She took his clipboard and wrote a number on it, turning to Dr. Wills and said, "Collect as much of the residue as you can from David's body, then save it for me.  Call me at this number as soon as you've collected all you can."  She turned and walked towards the door to the lab.

"Where are you going?" Dr. Wills asked.

Lara opened the doors and turned back.  "'That which wounds can heal.'  I know what can cure him.  I'm going to see a man in Paris."  Her gaze intensified and she added in a voice of steel, "_Keep David alive."_

Then she was gone.

EPILOGUE

Somewhere in Greece, a lone man stood in front of a council of thirteen figures dressed in black robes, their appearance and genders shrouded in mystery.  One of them stood above all, looking down at the man in the center of the chamber.  Above them, a tapestry hung with a single symbol, a sun with thirteen rays and a spiral in the center, overshadowing all.

"Never in the history of our Conclave has someone that we've accepted into our ranks shown such levels of incompetence.  If I were not so disappointed, angry and outraged, I would be impressed."

"My Lord…I only wished to save us the trouble and money of having to pay her off…"

"Be…silent." The voice reverberated through the chamber and the assassins' leader stopped.  "All you have done is made matters worse.  It was bad enough that Carla Toran asked a woman like Lara Croft to authenticate the findings.  A simpler archaeologist would've suited well, but Carla's foolish pride allowed her to bring a wild element like Lara Croft, and her associate, David Connors, into this matter.  But, despite their interference, the matter was still tractable."  The King rose from his chair.  "Alive, Carla would've stayed silent.  The money was inconsequential, nothing.  The theft would've been forgotten in a week with no leads and nothing to show.  But now…now we have a murder, evidence of our agents left behind, increasing the apparent intrinsic worth of the theft.  What's more, David Connors was attacked with the Spear, making a professional mystery a personal vendetta.  What you saw as a convenience became a stumbling block, and now we have Lara Croft looking deeper into the matter."

"My Master…she is only one person.  What could one person do?"

The King pointed his finger at the assassin and one of his aides stood up and leveled a gun at the object of the Master's wrath.  The gun fired three times, two bullets entering the chest, the third entering the skull.  "That," he said as the body fell to the floor.  "I have had enough of incompetence.  I refuse to report this embarrassing failure to the Mistresses, so you," he pointed to the assassin's lieutenant, "will succeed where he failed.  Take your men and meet her in Paris.  When she gets there…make sure she never leaves."  He raised his hands upwards.  "For the glory of the Hives!"

"FOR THE GLORY OF THE HIVES!!" the penitents below repeated, their cries shaking the walls of the chamber.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	19. Achilles' Heel, Part II: A Stab

**Achilles' Heel, Part II: A Stab In The Dark**

**By C. Mage**

                Lara checked her watch and adjusted the headset.  She turned on the radio.  "Flight 702 on approach, requesting clearance to land."

                "Flight 702, you are cleared to land on runway 12 East.  Please report to Customs upon arrival."

                "Roger that."  She adjusted her VOR and lowered her landing gear.  As she did so, she tried not to think about David, lying there in the hospital, dying from the wound he received from the spear.  Certainly he'd been wounded in the line of duty, not to mention in the course of their adventures...but this was different.  Unless she found the spear and the means to make the cure, David's condition would degrade to the point where not even his stubborn will would sustain him. 

                Lara shook herself and forced herself to focus.  _David won't gain any more time if I allow myself to be distracted._  She set the aircraft on the glide slope and took out her PDA.  She sighed gently.  The device was a gift from David on her birthday, the most advanced personal computer available. Wireless networking, cellular modem hookup, music and video player, expandable, good screen, all on an object barely bigger than a pack of cigarettes.  Of course, David had used one of the features before she'd received it, the ability to turn any picture into a wallpaper for the PDA's screen.  It took her an hour of reading before she could figure out how to switch the wallpaper with something more topical, like a picture of the Parthenon, from what had been on the screen before...a picture of David posing, naked and apparently excited by the idea of posing for Lara.  Of course, resetting the PDA's screen would've normally took her a few minutes to figure out, and twenty minutes more to find the right image for the wallpaper, but Lara wanted to make sure she could retrieve David's image later...in more private surroundings.

                She tapped the face with a fingernail and brought up her notes on the Oracle of Delphi.  Supposedly, the Oracle was ancient, drawing her power from vapors that rose from a stature in the Earth's crust.  She would breathe the vapors, go into a trance and then mutter words which the ones asking for information would then interpret.

                As Lara landed the plane, she didn't know that four men in a car outside the fence were watching her…and expecting her arrival.

Lara left Athens International Airport, shaking her head.  The last time she'd been there, the airport was more…quaint.  A few small gardens, a pleasant thoroughfare, polite attendants and efficient travelling from point to point.  Now, it was practically a mall.  Getting through Customs alone had been a problem; one of the officials recognized her from one of her more notorious exploits and practically searched her in every legal place they could…and she noted a couple of the men looking more than happy to explore the rest.  She smiled politely, told them in flawless Greek about how she'd prefer they follow Spartan relationships…with each other.  A few of the female officers smirked as Lara dressed in her jeans, T-shirt and jacket, putting on her boots.

Once outside, she saw Antony waiting for her.  The old Greek sat in his beaten-up old truck, nursing a drink from a canteen…likely a mixture of strawberry juice and orange juice, a drink Lara knew was Antony's favorite.  As she walked over, Antony looked up and smiled.  "About time you showed up.  Where to?"

                "It's a pleasure to see you too, Papa," she said, a pun based upon Antony's last name, Papopoulus.

                "Irresponsible and irreverent as usual, eh?" He went to the driver's side door and opened it.  "The question remains, Croft." 

                "We're going to visit the Oracle, Antony...but first, I've got to do some shopping at Murigan's."

                "I hear the last time you 'shopped' there, you two didn't exactly part on good terms."

                "Oh, I'm sure he's forgotten all about that by now."

                "Lara Croft..."  Terrance Murigan smiled cruelly.  "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now." 

                Lara looked at the seven men armed with automatic weapons, all pointed in her general direction.  She sighed.  "Honestly, Terrance..."

                The large man stood up laborously from behind his desk, leaning on a cane for support.  "Don't give me any excuses, Croft.  You _shot _me, you big-titted, Brit bitch!" 

                "Don't tell me you took that personally."

                "Call me old-fashioned, Croft, but I always take attempts on my life personally."

                "Come now, Terrance, if I hadn't played the part of the wronged party in that deal, those men with the Sicilian accents might have received the wrong impression about where your loyalties lay...considering whom I was planning to visit after hours.  They might have thought you were directly involved with the subsequent theft of one of their belongings."

                "Get to the part where you tell me why _you had to shoot me in the fucking leg!"_

                "Don't tell me you haven't guessed by now.  After all, it would've been easier simply to shoot you in a more, shall we say, accessible region of your body.  So, by going for the target requiring greater skill, I relieved you of any guilt with your backers.  You should be grateful."

                "Dammit, Croft, talking to you makes my head hurt!"  Terrance turned and walked back behind his desk.  "I should shoot you, regardless.  Fewer headaches." 

                "You don't want to do that."

                "Explain your thinking to me, Croft."

                "I'm not here to see the sights, Terrance.  I'm here on business.  And if you're good, I'll see clear to giving you a piece.  For old time's sake."

                "What sort of business?"

                ''Looking for a cure for a rare disease.  If the disease becomes airborne, that cure will become useless, since the cure is effective only at the early stages of the disease."

                "And what has that have to do with the price of beer?"

                "Imagine, for a moment, a disease that causes the human body to stop healing.  No cellular reconstruction at all.  No body recovery at all."  Lara walked over to his desk and leaned over it.  She was quite aware this position showed off her cleavage, and equally aware of the effect it had on the older gun-runner.  "Now, imagine how much someone might pay for the cure."

                "So what are you saying?"

                "Help me with supplies and hardware and once I'm done with it, you'll get all rights to the cure.  No strings."

                Terrance considered.  "This is an actual disease, not just some bug?" 

                "Check the records on a patient named David Connors at Oxford Medical in London."

                "Antonio, check it out."  He leaned back and looked at Lara steadily.  "If this is a scam, Croft, I'm sending you back to England in fifty zipper bags."

                "Such a sweet-talker you are.  Were I not a prude, I'd beg you to ravish me now, you beast, you," Lara said dryly.

                Antonio left the room and Lara sat down.  Ever the picture of calm, she smiled at Terrance.  "So...read any good books lately?" 

                "No." 

                "Any nice movies?"

                "Spare me."

                "Such novel conversation."

                Antonio came back into the room and whispered into Terrance's ear.  Terrance nodded.  Lara hid her anxiety well, having years of experience at staying cool under fire...or, in this case, impending fire.  After a few moments, Terrance looked at Lara.  "Seems they don't want to talk about his condition."

                "See what I mean?"

                "I don't follow."

                "Think they'd keep mum on his health if he had the flu?  Come now, Terrance, the man is dying.  Time is money."

                Terrance studied Lara carefully.  "And I get fifty percent of the income from the cure."

                "Draw up a contract.  If the disease becomes airborne, and the cure is needed, you get half.  One thing, though...if this man Connors dies, the deal's off.  This point is non-negotiable."

                "...very well."

                _Wonder if I should tell him that the chances of David's affliction becoming airborne are practically nonexistent?  _Lara smiled inwardly.  _Let's not...why sour the negotiations when things are going so well?_

                "I don't know why you're smiling, Lara."

                "Come now, don't tell me you don't approve of my taking advantage of an unrepentant criminal who regularly sells weapons to anyone with a bank account and a cause."

                "Present company excepted, of course."

                "Flatterer."  Lara turned back to her map.  

                "Lara, you still haven't told me why you're doing this."

                ''Yes, I have.  David needs..."

                "Yes, yes...I know what you said.  Now tell me the true reason.  Are you doing this out of love, or out of guilt?"

                Lara turned to Antony and looked at him levelly.  She opened her mouth to answer, but Antony interrupted her.  "Too late.  You had to consider your answer, and that means you are unsure."

                "You are not my father-confessor, Antony."

                "Truth.  But I am accompanying you on this endeavor, so if I am fated to die in this, I want to know why."

                Lara scoffed.  "If anyone is going to die in this, it's going to be me, and only me.  I'm heading to the island of Delphi, and it's little more than a tourist attraction now...for those who don't know better." 

                "As I recall, they've already unearthed the temple of Apollo.  There's nothing there but the barest remnants of where the Oracle was."

                Lara smiled.  "I suspect there's more to it.  According to legend, he was one wily diety.  His offspring were known for their smarts.  I suspect he made getting to the Oracle a test, to weed out the riffraff and those with only a casual interest in finding her.  I picked up some scrolls while on holiday in Iraq..."

                "Iraq?!  Only you, Lara Croft, would consider an excursion into a war-torn country a 'holiday'."

                "Oh, tish-tosh.  You worry too much.  Besides, the arm re-knit.  In any case, I retrieved scrolls from the time of Xerxes II.  You remember him, of course?"

                "History was never my best subject."

                "He was one of the more illustrious visitors to the Oracle.  He came to her for advice about an upcoming war with Greece, and the Oracle said to him, 'If Xerxes attacks Greece, he will destroy a great nation!' Impressive, eh?"

                "Lara, that grin of yours tells me you found that humorous."

                She smiled.  "Problem was, the Oracle didn't say _which_ nation would be destroyed.  Xerxes attacked Greece in a massive naval campaign.  The Greeks trounced them thoroughly, drawing them into their harbor and then decimating the larger, slower ships.  Caused a serious crimp in the Persian Empire.  As I recall, from that day on, a servant was given the duty of saying to Xerxes, at every meal, 'Remember the Athenians!'  Rather rough luck."

                Antony watched her as she went over her "tools."  Twin Glock-19s, extended magazines.  Flares.  Climbing ropes, 1000-lb. test capacity.  Climbing pitons.  First-aid kit.  GPS box.  PDA with digital camera, voice-recognition software, and pre-loaded maps.  "Quite the hardware lover, aren't you?"

                "Always have the right tools for the job.  Besides..."  Lara smiled, holding up the PDA's screen so Antony could see the cards arranged on the screen.  "...should I become bored, there's always Bridge."

                Antony looked out over the waters of the Mediterranean.  "I still don't see why you have to swim in."

                "According to the scrolls of the Theban scholar, Melanthus, there's a tunnel under the island.  It was a natural cavern at sea level, then an earthquake dropped that section of the island below the water.  I suppose Poseidon wanted his own waterfront entrance.  I think I can get into the chambers below the island."

                "What are you hoping to find?"

                "Some sort of record of what the Oracle said, the recipe for the cure."  Lara put on the SCUBA tank and turned towards the sea.  "People didn't have the internet or computers back then, so they had to rely upon personal records to keep everything straight.  Personal journals, research, things like that.  I'm betting that the Oracle did the same."

                "And if she didn't?"

                "She did.  I _know_ she did."  _She'd better, the mysterious old cow...I didn't fly all the way to Greece to come home and tell David, "Sorry, luv, but you're going to die, but the good news is, I visited that old place in Athens where you got the omelette and things are going smashingly." _  She put on her mask and turned back to Antony.  "I'll be back in an hour."

                "And if you're not back in an hour?"

                "Then wait another hour."  She fell backwards into the water and reoriented herself towards the island, diving deeper.

                Antony watched her go, then sighed and went to the radio, tuning it to another frequency and speaking into it.  "She's on her way to the Chambers of the Oracle."

                A reply came quickly.  "Stay there...there is a chance, however remote, that she might find the Cure.  If she does, kill her and bring her body, and the Cure, to us."

                "Yes, my Master."

                Lara dove towards the ocean floor and checked her depth, then compared it to the readings she'd received from the ultrasonic map of the bottom.  _Let's see...if I'm not mistaken, the entrance should be close...I just hope the entrance is in passable condition.  I didn't bring enough explosives..._

She stopped as she came over a rise in the ocean floor.  Built into the side of the island was a perfectly preserved Grecian temple, showing no signs of destruction or erosion despite an earthquake and sliding into the sea, let alone almost two thousand years of watery neglect.  She swam closer, looking over the columns and the lack of debris.  _It's almost perfectly preserved.  It's magnificent...how did it survive completely intact?_  She took out her underwater digital camera and snapped some pictures, the powerful strobe illuminating the ruins.  As she put away the camera, however, she felt a rumbling and looked up as a pointed nose appeared, followed by a large, streamlined form.  The shark swam towardsher slowly, circling her as three other sharks came into view.

                _Marvelous...just bloody marvelous._  She took out the speargun, a custom job with four barrels, each one with an spearhead designed to inject a powerful venom into whatever it hit.  Lara readied the gun, by now bored by the concept of voracious sea creatures.  _Come on, gents...none of us are getting any younger..._

                Suddenly, the sharks backed off, swimming towards deeper water.  Lara smiled, then stopped as she felt a rumbling around her.  She suddenly got the terrible feeling the sharks weren't leaving to meet an appointment on the far end of the ocean.  She turned around slowly.

                Rising from the ocean floor was a monstrous creature, ten tentacles spread from a bulbous body with two sickly-green eyes which looked at the adventuress with a malevolent light.  The kraken paused, glaring at the insolent creature that dared to disturb its rest.

                Lara gulped.  _Right...looks like I don't have to worry about being bored anymore!_

                For a few moments, adventuress and sea monster regarded each other.  Lara immediately realized that the creature was a guardian for the Temple.  If it had been a mindless beast, it would've attacked immediately, but it seemed simply content to stay between Lara and the entrance to the Temple.  As it floated there, Lara got a better look at the creature.  The tentacles had stingers attached to each tip, and the monster's beaked mouth was large enough to swallow Lara whole.  It's skin was dark, a mottled gray giving way to a dark blue color, but its eyes were red, burning with a cold hatred.

                _That's what I hate about establishments with selective membership...getting past the doorman._  She watched the kraken, then swam off to the right.  The kraken followed, seeming to simply shift to the side, tentacles trailing behind it.  Lara swam down and to the left, moving at high speed, but the kraken moved just as rapidly.  Lara would've snarled if her mouth didn't have a mouthpiece in it.  _So much for trying to get around it...looks like we'll have to be more direct.  The trick is, how do I do it without getting crushed?_

                Lara considered, then hit upon an idea.  _Of course, it would be reckless and foolhardy, but why change my tactics at this late date?_  She swam back behind a section of rock on the ocean floor and wriggled out of her SCUBA gear.  Lara attached an explosive charge to the tank, securing it in place as she took her last few breaths from the tank.  As she drew her Glock, she thought, _All I have to do is aim, blow the valve off the tank and let that thing chase it far enough away to blow it up...if the tank doesn't explode in my face or the shockwave from the explosion doesn't crush me like an insect._  

                Lara took a few last breaths, then pulled the trigger.

                The Glock went off and the bullet slowed in the water, but the speed was still fast enough to rip the valve open.  The tank rocketed out, leaving a thick trail of bubbles after it.  The kraken charged after it and Lara swam as hard as she could towards the entrance.  The kraken caught the tank, but just barely held on as it pulled the tank closer, examining it.  Lara swam until she saw the kraken trying to juggle the tank and move towards her at the same time.  

                Lara couldn't wait any longer and set off the charge, moving her body and stretching her arms and legs along the axis of her body.  The charge went off, causing a huge cloud of bubbles and ink and causing a shockwave that hurtled Lara towards the entrance.  She held her body as rigid as she dared, lest the shockwave cause her to bend in the currents in ways even her flexible form wasn't meant to handle.  She allowed some air to escape her lungs and swam towards the entrance to the temple, her lungs starting to burn.

                That's when she heard the shriek hammering her eardrums.  She looked back to see the kraken, or what was left of it, closing in on her.  It's speed was greatly reduced, considering it only had three complete tentacles left, but Lara knew that meant it would only take a few seconds longer to rend her limb from limb.  She swam faster, her lungs on fire as she entered the temple, scanning the area for any possible way out.  Three underwater passages stretched forward and to her sides.  _Now which way?_ she thought, feeling her oxygen supply depleting and the kraken trying to muscle its way into the temple...and from the sound of the shifting stone, it was succeeding well.  

                Lara swam towards the right, moving into a smaller antechamber, then saw a passage leading to her left.  She swam through it, then heard a horrendous sound of stone shattering through the water.  Lara didn't look back and swam through the passage, her vision starting to blur.  _This had better be take me somewhere with air in it...!_

                She swam up, red edging in at the sides of her vision, seeing light up ahead.  Her lungs felt like Hephaestus' forge as she tried to get to the surface before her lungs collapsed...

                She broke the surface, gasping as her oxygen-starved lungs forced her to pause, grabbing the sides of a hole in the floor.  She stopped to catch her breath and that's when she felt the tentacle wrap around her leg.  She grabbed the side of the cistern with one hand, grabbing a concussion grenade from her vest and yanking on the pin with her teeth.  She dropped the grenade, then hung on with both hands.  The kraken was stronger, and she felt it pull her under the water again.

                The water churned for a moment, then the cistern became a geyser as the grenade went off, the shockwaves rebounding inside the temple walls from below.  Lara _whooshed_ out of the cistern, flying up into the air and landing on the concrete, bits and pieces of kraken around her.  Lara coughed up a few pints of seawater and rolled onto her back, breathing ragged.

                "...Calamari, prepare with high explosives...serves 20,000..." Lara pulled herself to a sitting position and looked around, spitting to clear the taste of seawater from her mouth.  Nothing but darkness greeted her.  She pulled out a flare and fired it up, pulling herself to her feet, her ears still ringing.

                The chamber she'd surfaced in was huge, easily a few hundred feet long and more than a hundred feet wide.  She was amazed to find that the temple was untouched, even after centuries of salt air.  The marble columns were smooth, flawless, as well as the golden lamps that sat, unlit, but Lara suspected that the lamps were likely filled with oil, ready to be used.  The floor was glassy marble, and a gallery of statues lined the chamber, men and women looking proudly, almost imperiously at each other, eyes above looking upon Lara.  Each statue was twenty feet tall, something of an anomaly in Greek style, Lara noticed: _Usually, the statues of the Greek gods were sculpted only slightly larger than human sized.  Apollo, Artermis, Hephaestus, Zeus, Athena...nice owl.  Hades, Demeter...yes, they're all here, even Hestia, goddess of the hearth.  Looks like all the gods were honored here.  Odd.  I always thought Apollo held sway over the resources of the Oracle._  She walked towards the massive double doors at the other end of the chamber.  As she walked, she became aware of other features of the chamber.

                For starters, the water she dripped from her body seemed to vanish as soon as it hit the floor.  Second, the light from the flare was magnified, growing in lumens gradually until the light in the chamber was almost daylight.  Lara heard the sputter of the flare as it gave out and she threw it away.  As she reached for the flare, she stopped as she realized that she was looking at where the flares were strapped to her hip.  She could see them clearly.

                Lara looked up.  The lamps hanging from the walls were unlit, the flare was comletely out, yet there was an abundance of light inside the subterranean chamber.  _Curiouser__ and curiouser..._ she thought as she stopped in front of the doors.  The doors had no apparent locks or bars, but they were made of gold and stood at least thirty feet high.  "Now then...should I knock, or just let myself in?"  She reached up to knock on the door.

                "WHO COMES TO ASK AUDIENCE OF THE ORACLE OF DELPHI?"

                Lara started, jumping back in surprise at the sound of the voice booming from the doors.  She cleared her throat.  "Lara Croft."

                "THROUGH ME YOU ENTER THE PRESENCE OF APOLLO, AND MUST DEMONSTRATE YOURSELF WORTHY BY PASSING THE THREE TESTS."

                "What tests?" she asked, resistng the urge to go for her weapons, suspecting a trap.

                "THE TEST OF MIND, THE TEST OF BODY AND THE TEST OF SOUL.  THOSE WHO ARE FOUND WANTING WILL BE DENIED THE ORACLE'S PRESENCE."

                "Seems a bit selective...did you have these tests for those wanting to see the Oracle hundreds of years ago?"

                Lara wasn't expecting an answer, but she got one anyways. "DO YOU REALIZE HOW BORING IT IS TO WAIT HUNDREDS OF YEARS FOR PEOPLE WITH INTELLIGENT QUESTIONS?"

                Lara stared.  _I don't believe it...I'm getting straight lines from the architecture!_  "Well, having a hundred-ton monster at the door does tend to discourage tourists."

                "OF COURSE.  THE GIFT OF PROHPECY IS NOT FOR THOSE WANTING TO KNOW WHO WILL WIN THE WORLD SERIES AND WISH TO KNOW THE POINT SPREAD."

                Lara's jaw dropped.  "How do you know about that?"

                "IS THAT YOUR QUESTION OF THE ORACLE?"

                "No!" Lara said quickly.

                "GOOD."

                _If I didn't know better, I'd say this overgrown pet door was having a laugh at my expense!_  "I hate to be insistent, but I'm in a terrible rush."

                "VERY WELL, LARA CROFT.  ENTER THROUGH ME AND FACE THE FIRST OF YOUR TESTS."  The doors opened slowly, revealing a dark chamber beyond.  As she walked towards the door, a thought struck her.  "One question...of you, not the Oracle.  Are you some sort of guardian, creating the tests anew everytime someone else comes to visit the Oracle?"

                "NO.  I AM SIMPLY A DOOR, EMPOWERED TO SPEAK WHEN I WAS INSTRUCTED TO BY THE ORACLE."

                Lara stopped.  "You mean you're not intelligent?"

                "CORRECT."

                "Then how were you able to respond to me?"

                "I DID NOT RESPOND.  I WAS INSTRUCTED TO SAY THESE WORDS WHEN THE PROPER TIME CAME TO PASS."

                "Then you knew that I would be here, what I would do, what I would say?"

                "NO.  THE ORACLE DID, AND SHE INSTRUCTED ME TO RESPOND IN THIS WAY."

                "When?"

                "ALMOST TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO."

                Lara's mind suddenly slipped from first to neutral.  "The Oracle....knew _then_...what would happen now?"

                "YES.  ONE MORE MESSAGE: THE KRAKEN WILL HEAL FROM THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE GRENADE."

                Lara shook herself and took a deep breath, walking into the chamber trying not to think about the implications of what was said.  As the doors closed slowly behind her, she turned back and called, "I suppose it would be no use to ask you to wish me good luck, then?"

                "GOOD LUCK.  YOU'LL NEED IT."

                Lara faced the darkness and the doors closed behind her.

                **TO BE CONTINUED...**


	20. Achilles' Heel, Part III: Trojan Horse

**Achilles' Heel, Part III: Trojan Horse**

**By C. Mage**

                When the room brightened, she was no longer in a Greek temple, put aside by time.  Lara's mouth dropped open as she saw herself in her old Archaeology lecture hall back at Cambridge.  The solid wood of the chairs, the aged slate chalkboard at the front, every detail was intact, right down to the mahogany desk off to the left of the front of the room.  All the desks were vacant, but one had a sheet of paper lying on the top.  As she walked to the paper and picked it up, the door by the desk opened and her old mentor, Von Croy, walked out.  "Well, well, Lara...so good to see you."

                Lara had gone for her guns the moment the door had opened, but her guns were gone.  So had her old clothes.  She looked down and discovered to her horror that she wore the school jumper and uniform her father had insisted she wear when she was going through grade school.  

                The fact that she was still a grown woman was not lost on the apparition standing before her.  "My, my, aren't we the big girl?"

                "What the devil is going on?"

                "Glad you asked.  As you may have already surmised, you are not truly at Cambridge, nor am I truly your teacher."

                "Then what are you?"

                "Please, have a seat.  I am what some refer to as an animus, a corporeal spirit, a revenant...the semantics are endless.  I am here to test you, see if you are worthy of the Oracle's attention."

                "And if I'm judged otherwise, I get sent packing, correct?"

                "Not quite.  Losers are devoured, by me."

                Lara stared at him.  "You're joking."

                "Actually, I'm hungry, so let's begin, shall we?"  He picked up a sheath of papers from the table, holding them up.  "The Oracle wants to make sure you're worthy of her presence, so there will be three Tests: the Test of Mind, the Test of Body and the Test of Soul."

                "Is all this truly necessary?  None of my predecessors had to go through this, did they?"

                "To be honest, not really.  Most of the time, we just took riches.  However, since we haven't received visitors in centuries, so we have to do things to amuse us here in the Land of the Dead.  You're just lucky I didn't bring Cerberus in.  He's got the gates of Hades to guard, and as prosperous as you are, you don'r rate his presence.  Besides, he's not housebroken."  "Von Croy" set the papers down.  "Now, are we going to do this or what?  I'm ravenous."

                She didn't like the look in his eyes, and for just a split-second, she thought she saw a shadow of something monstrous around him.  "Very well...I suppose I'l have to play your game."

                "GOOD girl.  You're smart; that'll help.  The first is the most boring part, a simple series of questions designed to gauge intuitive thought and logical thinking.  By the way, you have ten minutes, forty questions.  Get them all right or be second place...and second place here means being first in the menu."

                Lara picked up the pencil and began.

                "Correct...correct....CORRECT..."

                Lara smiled as she sat there.  "Something wrong?" she asked pleasantly.

                "No...not at all..."  The animus ground its teeth.  "ALL....CORRECT."

                "Imagine my surprise."

                "Nobody likes a smartass, least of all me.  Fine, fine, you pass the Brainy Test."  He waved his arms and the world changed, resolving once more as the surroundings became quite familiar.

                Lara blinked and looked around.  "You _must_ be joking."  She walked forward a few steps, standing at the start of the obstacle course she'd set up in her own home, and she dressed in her exercise clothes, bodysuit and shorts.

                "Not really."

                Lara froze as she turned to see that the animus had adopted another form, that of David Connors.  The result was eerie beyond words.  "Take that off this instant," Lara snarled.  "You don't deserve to wear _that_ particular 'outfit'."

                "Make me," it said in a voice so like David's, it gave her shivers.  "Here's the deal, Lara Croft.  All you have to do is beat me in your own obstacle course, considering that I've made a few...enhancements to the course.  If you win, we move on to the next Test.  If you lose, I'm going to eat you alive...while wearing this body."  "David" grinned, showing shark-like sharp teeth.

                "Has anyone ever told you that you're a vicous little demon who enjoys his work far too much?"

                "Flattery will get you nowhere.  Now get up to the starting line; exercise makes me hungry."

                _Breathing makes you hungry, you wretched little toad._  Lara walked up to the line and prepared to run, then stared as she realized that the obstacle course seemed a bit longer than she remembered.  "Ready."

                "GO!"

                Lara took off and sprinted for the first obstacle, a series of platforms progressing from ground level to three stories high.  Lara began climbing and jumping up, then noticed that "David" seemed to simply disappear from one box and re-appear at another.  "Any rules against cheating?"

                "For you, yes, for me, no.  Sorry about that, but life isn't completely fair, what can I say?" He grinned and re-appeared at the top block, waiting by the rope bridge.  He yawned as he waited until Lara was almost at the top, then he started across nimbly. "I'm 'Enry the Eight, I am, I am..." he sing-songed as he moved across the bridge, then turned to say, "Having fun yet?" 

                When he opened his eyes from expressing his smug look, Lara was gone.  He blinked, then looked ahead.  What he saw made him snort fire from his nose.  Lara, having sped past him, leaped from the edge to grab the zipline handles and descend to the ground, not even bothering to give the animus a withering glance.  She jumped up to the platform starting the balance beam segment.  However, what was once a fifty-foot length over shallow water was now the length of a football field.  What was once water was now molten lava!  She didn't waste any time, moving foot by foot over the beam.  She could feel the heat of the molten rock below, but it somehow wasn't enough to hurt her, just distract her.  

                "David," on the other hand, seemed perfectly comfortable with the route, even doing cartwheels across the beam and he passed her by. "Hey, Lara, is it hot in here, or is it just me?"

                "It's not you," Lara said irritably.  She was almost at the end, but it didn't make it any easier seeing the animus waiting for her to get closer.  _If this keeps up, that bloodthirsty creature will be...oh HO._  Lara smiled inwardly, though she continued to show her displeasure.  "What's the next obstacle, monster?"

                "Nothing too dangerous.  The pipes.  You remember them, don't you?  Just a short little crawl..."  He smiled as he turned the corner.  Lara made it across and sprinted around the corner, her body starting to ache from her relentless exertions.  She groaned as she saw four lengths of pipe, laid in two rows.  "David" was already making his way through one, disappearing into the one on the left and Lara started through the one on the right.  As she progressed through the first pipe, her mind was so busy trying to work out a plan that she didn't notice the blades appearing behind her...at first.  She was almost halfway through when she heard the blades ramming themselves through the pipe's walls!

                The animus watched as Lara progressed, just two feet away from crossing the finish line.  "Hey, Lara, hope you don't mind me air-conditioning your pipe...you looked kinda hot!"  He giggled at his joke, then stopped as he smelled something.

                Blood.

                He spit to keep himself from choking on his own saliva, his mouth watering as he smelled blood in Lara's pipe.  He immediately went to the mouth of her tube to see a dark shape, pierced by the blades.  Centuries of being denied the taste of warm, steaming human flesh took over and he moved through the tube like a hungry spider, grabbing at he shape and feeling cloth tear away...

                ...leaving nothing but a small pool of blood and the two blades at the beginning of the pipe.

                "WWHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT????????"  The animus shrieked in rage, his head shooting up through the concrete of the pipe and turning around to see Lara crawl out of her pipe, her sweatpants missing, to run across the finish line.  She turned back, smiling, leaning against a wall.  "Do I win?"

                The animus let out a loud, keening shriek of rage as he launched himself at Lara, its features running like melting wax, becoming disfigured, monstrous.  All the smart remarks were gone, replaced by a single inhuman scream as claws came forth, splitting through the flesh of its fingertips.  Lara went for her guns by reflex, then realized that she was unarmed just as the creature went for her throat…

She closed her eyes.  _Never thought I'd buy it like this…being chewed apart by some demon-spawn…rended limb from limb…and worst of all, I'm not even armed…can't say I saw that coming.  Well…it doesn't feel too bad…in fact…I don't feel anything._

Lara opened her eyes again and looked right into the face of the demon, only the animus wasn't the same sickly red and green flesh color it was before.  It looks like polished marble…in fact, it was.  She stepped back, raising a hand and touching the surface.  It was hard, cold.  "Well…that was mildly different."

"Sorry about that."  Lara turned to see a man dressed in jeans, a T-shirt with the words, "Elysium Fields Forever" written on the white fabric with blue lettering.  He wore sandals and a quiver, and carried a bow in his hands.  "So hard to find good help nowadays."

"Who…or WHAT are you??"  Lara stepped back as she found herself in the temple once more.

"Well, allow me to introduce myself.  I am Apollo, the Greek sun god, also known as Helios, not to mention a few lovely young ladies in Athens as Mr. Briaros Leulippe."

"Apollo??"  Lara shielded her eyes a bit, expecting his radiance to be blinding, but it was a subtle glow instead…just enough to look unreal.  "No offense, but I rather expected…"

"Greek clothing, shining radiance?  That was the time of the ancient age, and we wore those clothes because that was the period fashion.  The Greek gods may not be as powerful as they once were, but we have enough awareness to know about clothing.  You have no idea how glad I was when underwear was perfected.  Ambrosia, the Elysian Fields, the temples on Mount Olympus…_nothing_ compared to the feel of bikini briefs underwear."  He smiled.  "So, Lara Croft, you sure came a long way.  Sorry about the trouble with the demon, but maybe a few hundred years as a glorified paperweight will teach him protocol."

"So…does this mean you're going to give me the cure?"

"Nope.  Not give.  You still have to earn it."

Lara sighed.  "Mind if I speak frankly?"

"Go ahead."

"Are all members of the Grecian pantheon so bloody bored that they feel I should have to jump through hoops and through fire to get something this important???"

Apollo rubs his chin, then nods.  "Pretty much.  We don't have as many worshippers as we used to, but we have enough to be remembered, to have power.  As a result, we don't have as much responsibility.  And when you've been around as much as we have, believe me, _anything_ that alleviates boredom is, if you'll pardon the pun, a godsend."

"And if I die?"

"Well, chances are you'd go someplace rather nice.  David would likely go there, perhaps.  And you could put aside all that work…"

"NO.  Look, that thing said there was a Test of Soul.  Can we get on with it?"

"Hold on…look, I can make things a lot easier for you.  I can see to it that you and David are joined in the Elysium Fields.  I'll take you there personally and see to it that David meets you.  You'll love it, endless fields and forests, no worries, no cares.  It'll be EASY."

"What about my work?  What about our lives together?"

                "You'll have eternity together.  Come on, so you check out a few decades sooner than expected.  What's wrong with that?"  Apollo said soothingly.  "You've got the guarantee of a god; what more do you want?"

                Lara turned to the god, noting with some surprise that his shirt now read, "I know what a Grecian earns."  "I want to live.  My purpose isn't fulfilled yet and I'm not giving up."

                "Is that your final answer?  You don't know what's coming next.  You could buy it in five minutes."

                "Sorry, Apollo, but I'm not buying.  Forget it.  Now, are you going to give me the Test or..."  She stopped.  "Bloody Hell."

                "Not yet."  Apollo smiled, standing up.  "Alright, alright, you can enter the Sanctum of the Oracle.  Forgive the dust, but it's the maid's millenium off."  He lifted into the air, his body beginning to glow brighter. "I think you can find your own way out." 

                "That's it?"

                "You were expecting something more grandiose?  Fanfare, time and space being warped, stuff like that?"

                "Well...yes, I suppose so."

                "Tell you what.  You conform to your reputation and blow up every building older than a century that you leave, and we'll make every revelation you receive properly divine.  How's that?"

                "Are all dieties so sarcastic?"

                "Mostly.  Centuries of dealing with mortals does that to a god.  Turn the light off before you leave."  He vanished, leaving the temple dark.  A few moments later, the lights flared high, revealing a large chamber divided into two areas.  One of them was a relatively circular chamber with a chair in the center of the room.  The throne sat on a column a few feet higher than floor-level, isolated by a ring-shaped chasm nearly thirty feet wide.  There was no apparent way for anyone sitting on the throne to leave the column, giving the chamber a slightly ethereal feel to it.  The floor, walls and ceiling were made of polished marble, and the timeless air of the room made Lara wonder if she was going to walk out of the chamber in the year 2000 AD...or in the year 500 BC.

                _Focus, Lara.  You have work to do._

                "How long has she been down there?"  An older man, silver peppering his hair, moustache and close-cut beard, lowered his binoculars.

                "Two hours."  His companion, a devastatingly attractive redhead, stood up and walked over to him, her bikini barely covering her luxuriously-proportioned body.  "Intelligence suggests that she's after the records involving the Spear of Achilles...and a possible antitoxin."

                "Thinks she's made contact with the Community yet?"

                "Probably...she just doesn't know it yet."

                "Assemble an extraction team and have them bring David Connors to our base in the Falklands.  Have M allow us access to three of our Shrike-Class satellites.  If Lara leaves the island, I want to know where she's going even before she does."  He turned to look at her and their eyes met.  The woman's heart skipped a beat; the man was not particularly attractive or remarkable, although he was in phenomenal shape considering his age.  But there was a distinct, powerful animal magnetism to him that made a jaded agent like her feel like a teenager.  She blushed and smiled.

                The man looked at her and sighed inwardly.  _Sometimes, I wish I could turn off that little switch in my body that turns women into animals in my presence.  It's horrendous having to deal with that feral attraction when trying to do my job._  He watched as she walked back into the cabin of the boat, dropping her bikini top on the deck behind her.  He smiled a little.  _However, it does tend to make stakeouts less monotonous._  

                He followed her in, removing his shirt.

                Lara put aside the scorll and went to the next one.  With the influences of the powers she'd seen so far, it didn't surprise her to discover that the scrolls were in excellent condition, considering the sea air and the extreme age of her surroundings.  _Remind me next time I buy a home, I have it constructed on hallowed ground...I'll never need to hire a maid again._  She did muse, however, that the temple may not have needed a maid service, it certainly needed a librarian.   Trying to navigate through the massive racks of scrolls was difficult for Lara, even with her flawless understanding of the Grecian languages, new and old.  It took her three hours just to get to the correct time period, and she was going blind on paperwork.

                Lara stood up and stretched, walking towards the main chamber, pacing towards the throne idly.  "I tell you, Oracle, you picked a bad time to retire from the trade.  I could've used your counsel right about now."

                Her last words were barely out of her mouth when she heard a nearly-inaudible hum coming from the throne.  Mist began to rise from the gap and, as the gase rose, it became to coalesce into a more recognizable form.  A feminine, wraithlike apparition appared on the throne, sitting upon it like a Queen before her court.  A hollow female voice emitted from the throne.  _"Who summons the Oracle at Delphi?"_

                "I am Lara Croft."

                _"I have awaited your arrival for some time.  You are early, Lara, I had not expected you for another week.  I suppose even I am not perfect 100% of the time."_

                "I need your help."

                _"I have the power to answer one question, one request.  Name I and the solution will become apparent."_

                Lara took a deep breath, considering how to word her request.  "Oracle, I wan't to know what is required to heal one wounded by the Spear of Achilles."

                _"You must make a salve from the rust of the head of the Spear."_  She intoned a list of herbs and reagents, as well as the complete method for making the salve.  Lara recorded every word on her PDA, watching as the words appeared on her screen as text as the voice-recognition software turned audio to alphanumeric characters on her word processing software.  When she was done, she saved the file twice, then looked up at at the Oracle.  "Oracle...I wish to ask you something."

                _"Only one question about your future or your desires may be asked."_

"Wait!" Lara said loudly as she saw the apparition begin to dissipate.  "This question is about you!"

                The Oracle paused in her discoporation.  _"Never has anyone asked me a question about me.  I am intrigued.  Ask your question."_

                "You've seen empires rise and fall, countries born and die, and yet you remain here.  Why?"

                The Oracle needed only a second to compose her answer.  _"Purpose."_

                "I don't understand.  Purpose in serving Apollo?"

                _"I foresaw that, one day, my counsel would not be used for war, pride, profit or vanity.  I foresaw that I would help to save a man's life and aid him in rediscovering his soul."_

                Lara stared.  "You spent thousands of years waiting just to save one man's life?  Granted, I'm gratefu for your timely assistance, but...I find it hard to believe you'd do all this for one soul."

                _"There is nothing in this world more priceless and harder to recover than one single soul, Lara Croft."_  The Oracle shifted and, just for a moment, she thought she saw a smile on the shadowy face of the ghostly figure.  Then the Oracle disappeared.

                Then the Temple disappeared.

                Then Lara disappeared.

                "Unhhhhh..."  Lara woke up and rubbed her head.  "That was..."  She sat up suddenly and looked around, finding herself sitting on a rock on Delphi's shore.  "Please, God, tell me I didn't dream the whole thing...!"  She reached for her PDA and pulled it out of its sheath quickly, pulling up the main screen.

                The recipe for the salve was still there.

                Lara breathed a sigh of relief.  _I was beginning to wonder...Apollo as a modern womanizer?  Seeing the Oracle as some sort of revenant?_  She shook her head.  "Right...time to deal with more earthly matters.  I suppose I better look around and see if I can't fnd where my boat is anchored."  She climbed off the rock and walked towards the beach, checking her compass.  _Lovely.  I'm on the other side of the island!  _She sighed.  _Perhaps I can get to the other end of the isle by nightfall on foot._

                The sounds of motors came to her ears and she saw five jetskis come around the left shore, heading towards her.  She took out her binoculars and held it up.  Lara frowned as she picked up other details about the riders.  _Unless Uzis are now considered chic to use while waterskiing, I've got a bad feeling my day just became much more complicated…_

                **TO BE CONTINUED…******


	21. Achilles' Heel, Part IV: The Odyssey

**Achilles' Heel, Part IV: The Odyssey**

**By C. Mage**

            As the five sea-cycles homed in on Lara's position, she couldn't help but comment: "That's it.  Next time I take a commission to find something in Greece, I'm calling in sick that year."  She turned inland, only to find that, instead of a gently sloping beach, the terrain ahead was a fifty-foot stretch of sand leading to the edge of a steep cliff, more than three hundred feet high.  To the sides was another seventy feet of beach, spotted with large rocks, tapering off against the cliff.  _Wonderful.  Caught between a rock...and some hard cases.  I go up the cliff and I'm a sitting duck.  I go into the sea and I'm shot before I reach the drop-off.  Those rocks will provide some cover, but that won't help in a firefight, especially since I'm unarmed. Think, Lara, _think_!_

            As the watercraft approached, she looked out into the water and noticed a pair of shimmering blobs on the surface near the edge of the beach.  Lara grinned.  _What I need is an edge...a nice, sharp, _painful _edge..._

            The men saw her move behind some of the rocks to their right, gunning the engines as they got closer to shore.  It took them a few minutes to hit the sand, and when they did, they immediately ran around the side of the rock where they saw Lara disappear.  They fired bursts of ammunition only to slaughter empty air and silent sand.  

            "Be watchful," the leader said, scanning the beach, "she's around here somewhere.  Spread out and find her.  Find her and kill her."  The men nodded and divided, three moving to the east beach, the others moving to the west.  They primed their guns, on edge, whether from dedication to their Masters or fear of their target, none could tell. All of them had read dossiers on Lara Croft prior to their mission, and prepared themselves for anything.

            The men moving to the west passed two sets of rocks, then turned a corner to see Lara Croft, hands behind her back, wearing a smile...and little else.  The men stopped, stared, and lowered their weapons about three inches.

            "Now, boys...don't you think you've seen enough?" Lara said, throwing her arms up as if to embrace them both.  At that point, the two men realized three things.

            First, Lara Croft was wearing something after all: gloves.

            Second, she had thrown something at their faces.

            And third, jellyfish tendrils react extraordinarily harshly with human skin, nostrils and eyes.

            "Well, since you gentlemen have something new to occupy your time, you won't mind if I borrow these, do you?"  Lara finished removing her gloves and reclaiming her wetsuit, shoes and waterproof bag, then picked up the Uzis and extra clips.  Normally, the two men would've done more to stop her, but they had a new hobby: trying to claw their faces off.

            _Well, this equalizes things, doesn't it?_  She moved towards the watercraft on the beach, moving from rock to rock.  _After those screams, the others will be on their way presently..._

            Lara came out from behind a rock and bullets peppered the rock and sand around her.  She spun away, but not before taking a bullet in her arm.  Lara hissed and surveyed the damage.  _That'll leave a nice scar unless I get to a doctor and soon._

            She took a quick look, her eyes picking out where the shooters were, then backed up against the rock, counting to ten, she poked her head out to draw their fire, pulled it back, then jumped to the side and first off a long burst from each Uzi.  The thug to her left took all seven rounds from her left Uzi in the chest, having made the mistake of trying to get closer to her position without sufficient cover...like the Chrysler Building.  The thug in the center pulled back for cover, but not before taking a round in the leg and one in the chest, completely ruining his afternoon.

            Lara tucked her head down, rolling behind another large stone and pressing her back against the rock.  "You realize, of course, that surrender may soon no longer be an option!"

            The thug cursed at her in Greek and reloaded.

            "My my, such language."  Lara smiled.  She was tired, sore in several places and bleeding, and she was having the time of her life.  "Don't make me come over there and wash your mouth out!"

            The shooter retreated, running back from stone to stone towards the Sea-Doo he'd used to get there.  Lara chased after him, but remained cautious to make sure she didn't make herself vulnerable in her pursuit.

            Her wary tactic, however, made it easy for the reckless thug to get to the watercraft first, pushing his out into the water and starting the motor.

            In a compound halfway across Europe, three men watched the screen in front of them as it displayed a series of five small lights superimposed over a digital wireframe map.  As one of the blips left the island, the figure in the middle turned to his companion to his left.  "The Target has eliminated four of the agents."

            "Immaterial.  They were all designated as expendable.  Terminate him."

            Lara stopped as she reached the beach, the unknown thug already making serious speed away from the island.  "Blast!" she swore as the man made his escape.

            As if on cue, the watercraft did exactly that, a massive fireball enveloping the vehicle and flash-frying the rider.  

            Lara stared, then looked at the other Sea-Doos, resting innocently upon the sand.  She opened up the compartment under the seat carefully.  As the cushion rose, she saw a wire leading from the seat to an explosive device next to the motor.  "Bloody hell...whoever these men work for, they must be saving a bundle by doing away with retirement benefits."

            She looked towards the sea, then took out her pouch.  She was no bomb disposal expert, but she was faced with either defusing the bomb somehow, or waiting for a boat to come along and pick her up.

            And David didn't have that kind of time.

            She looked over the bomb carefully.  From what she knew from David's coaching, the bomb was too simple to add in such features as voltage monitors or motion triggers.  It was rigged to go off if someone opened up the seat, so the bomb still had a few tricks up its sleeves.  She took out a small battery from her flashlight, attached a pair of alligator clips to the positive and negative sides, then sorted out the wires going to the battery of the watercraft.  She took a long, deep breath and attached the clips to the wires.  She took out a set of wireclippers, made a short prayer, then cut the lead wire.

            The three men watched the scope.  The first turned to the others.  "Is she still alive?"

            The second answered, "If she is, she must be wounded, or biding her time."

            The third inquired, "Has she discovered the bombs?"

            "If she has, it is unlikely she would use them, for fear of activating them."  The second smiled.  "And she has no EOD training according to our records."

            "Wait."  The third pointed at the screen as one of the blips began to move away from the edge of the beach.  "She apparently hasn't spotted the bombs."

            "Good.  Detonate them all.  Make sure if anyone finds them, all they find is scrap."

            The second man activated the ARM icon on the touchscreen and held a finger over the FIRE icon.  "Goodbye, Lara Croft."  He pressed the icon and the other four blips on the screen flared, then disappeared.

            Lara turned as the Sea-Doo she was towing went up behind her.  Even as far away as she was, she could still feel the heat blast scald her back.  The other two watercraft and the bomb she'd left behind on the beach did likewise.  She stopped for a moment to pull in the towline, and as she did so, she looked across the water to the west where her boat should have been.  _Antony…either you're dead, or you're going to be._  She wound up the line, looking at the frayed end.  _But first, I have to find that spear.  And I need you alive, Antony.  You better be alive._

            She drove the Sea-Doo away from the island, glad she had siphoned the tanks of the other watercraft.  She had no idea just how far off course she was, so Lara figured she had a long ride ahead of her until she got her bearings once more.

            Antony walked into his home and sat down in his easy chair, taking out his keys and wallet and putting them on the table.  Debriefing with the Masters was always tiring, although he'd never admit it out loud.  Not anywhere.  He never knew just how many listening devices were around.  As he sat down, he began to wonder if he should feel any remorse.  Lara Croft was an old friend, but the Masters had a Great Design to change the world, bring about a new order, eradicate the chaos that had infected the Earth.  He shook his head.  Remorse was a failing his Masters kept trying to remove.  Best to abandon it, lest it come back to haunt him later.

            He laid back his head, closing his eyes as he reclined.  He would've gone right to sleep, except for the cold sensation on his forehead.  He reached up to rub it and his fingers found cold metal.  His eyes opened.

            "Wakey, wakey, Antony."  Lara smiled cruelly as she pressed the barrel of the gun down on Antony's forehead.  "Who paid you to sell me out?"

            "Lara…Lara, you're alive…!  When those men came after me, I feared the worst!" he exclaimed, trying to sound relieved.

            "Let me tell you about the 'worst', Antony.  The worst is having an old friend betray me."

            "I did no such thing!  I was being shot at…!"

            "They must be horrible shots.  Their vehicles were faster than your own cruiser, yet there isn't a single bullet hole in your boat."  She pulled back the hammer.  "They managed to wing me, though, and I'm slightly trimmer than a thirty-five foot boat.  So I'm going to ask you again, Antony.  Who paid you to sell me out?"

            "I can't.  You have no idea what they'll do to me if I tell you!"

            "Perhaps not, but I can imagine what _I'll_ do if you don't."

            "It's already too late.  They know you're here."

            "You mean the little bugs around your house?  Found them.  I am surprised, the bugs are rather sophisticated and there were sixteen of them.  Means you're high enough to know what's going on, but your people don't trust you.  Can't imagine why.  Now TALK."

            "I can't!  They'll _know._"

            "Then tell me where the Spear is."

            "What spear?"

            "Britney Spears.  What Spear do you think I'm talking about?  The Spear of Achilles.  Antony, out of respect for all the years you've helped me out, I'm going to cut you a break.  Instead of shooting you in the head first, I'm going to shoot you in the privates."

            "WAIT!  Wait!!"

            Lara's mouth turned from a wicked smile to an angry wall of teeth barely covered by twisted lips.  "I'm going to count to five."  She aimed the gun between his legs.  "Five!"

            "IT'S AT THE CENTER!!" Antony shrieked.

            "The Center?"

            "It's in the Aegean Isles.  There's…there's an underwater base where they conduct tests…"

            "Keep talking, Antony.  Where is it exactly?"

            Antony began to blubber as he told her how to find it, giving her coordinates and underwater landmarks.  As he did so, he hoped that Lara was right and that all the bugs were deactivated.  He didn't want to know what the Masters would do if they found out what he told Lara.

            "Congratulations, Antony.  You get to live AND be able to father children."  She pulled the gun away and backed towards the door.  "If I ever see you again, I will kill you.  Understand me?"

            Antony nodded and watched her leave.  He breathed a sigh of relief.  "Thank God."

            _*Don't be too grateful just yet,*_ said a voice in his skull.

            "What...?!" he asked, jerking upright and looking around.

            _*Do you know what a mastoid implant is, Antony?  It's a rather sophisticated voice transmitter at the base of your lower jaw that transmits every single word you say...to us.*_

            "Masters, I...!!"

            _*Spare us your attempts to plead for your life, Antony.  You were kept alive only long enough to tell Miss Croft where to find the base, where she will meet the end of her career.  You have now outlived hyour usefulness to us.*_

            Antony went to his knees.  "Please, forgive me..." he said in a hoarse croak.

            _*Forgiveness is an overrated virtue.  Antony...you're fired.*_

            Antony didn't even have time to get a quick prayer out before the second implant, a tiny shaped charge inside the cranium itself, turned his brain to oatmeal, causing some to project from his ears and nose.  He fell forward into darkness.

            Back in the Center, one of the Masters, a woman named Electra, turned to another console.  "Bring the Base to Yellow Alert.  We're going to have company soon."  She smiled.  She'd been looking forward to testing the Center's defense systems, and now she had the perfect crash test dummy.

            Emphasis on the word _crash._

            Lara, however, had no desire to end up as some facility's punching bag.  If Antony and his friends were any indication, she was dealing with some seriously ruthless people, not to mention well-funded people.  Underwater bases made for very solitary places.  _That meant these people would not skimp on security, and they'll probably include some natural security as well,_ Lara thought as she sipped her coffee.  The yacht was one of her best-kept secrets.  She kept a small fleet of them, purchased under different aliases through dummy sales.  David knew every trick in the book, a knack he'd picked up from a couple of friends of his that used to be accountants from criminal organizations.  With his help, and some re-working of the internal structures, the yachts were floating bases, able to deploy submersibles, anti-detection buoys and other tricks from hatches built below the boat's water line.  David liked to refer to them in communications as "icebergs".

            Lara smiled at the memory.  As she emptied her cup, thinking about David brought back memories of Michael, and that sobered her.  It had been a few years, but she still remembered his face when they had adventured in Europe...

            _"Lara, they're closing in on us!" Michael exclaimed.  "Any ideas?"_

_            "We just have to get across the  roofs.  There's a fire escape down to the street level and we can lose ourselves in the crowd at the carnival."_

_            "How can people party in this kind of weather?  It's raining!"  Michael shook his head in disbelief._

_            "Less talk, more run!"  Lara ran across the roof and leaped across the gap.  As she landed, she felt her feet slip out from under her.  As her feet slipped off the incline, she grabbed at anything she could, her hands finding the edge and hanging on.  "Michael!"_

_            Michael turned as he landed, lying flat to keep from slipping off himself.  "Lara, hang on!"_

_            She tried to pull herself up, but her grip was slipping fast.  "I'm trying!"_

_            Michael stood up carefully, moving over to her and bracing his feet against the lip of the roof.  He reached down to her.  "Grab my hand!"_

_            Lara reached out, almost flailing her arm to reach him.  As she stretched her left hand to him, she felt her right hand slipping.  "Michael!!"_

_            Then she felt his grip around her arm, pulling her up easily.  As she moved up onto her front, she sighed in relief.  "Thank you, Michael...don't know what I'd do without..."_

_            That's when she felt Michael lying on top of her, felt him tremble on top of her, then she heard the rapid succession of pops.  She twisted her head around to see their two pursuers cresting the top of a roof.  She drew her Uzi and fired, no longer concerned how many reinforcements were behind the two men.  Lead raked the air and ripped the two pursuers apart._

_            That's when she felt Michael slipping off the roof.  Her eyes went wide as she tried to turn to grab him, but the very action pushed Michael away even more.  She reached for him, grabbed for him, missed...watching him slide off the building.  Then his head came up as his chin touched the roof._

_            Lara looked into Michael's eyes and saw nothing there.  Then he slipped off the roof..._

 He hadn't even made a sound as he fell.  She'd abandoned that adventure, leaving the knowledge of the location of Rembrandt's lost art to the ages, and went home.  She had been devastated, crushed.  It had taken weeks of therapy for her to even leave the house, much less resume her adventurous habits.  It wasn't easy; many of her rivals thought Lara had finally lost it.

            It took the challenge of a lost chalice to get her back on her feet, and meeting David helped her to ease the pain.  It was easy to forget, with David's easy laugh, his relentless desire to live, his playfulness, and him being a crack shot didn't hurt in the least.

            Then came the day when she realized she was falling in love with him.  The thought should've made her happy, but it made her worried instead.  Before, it was easy, if something happened, there was nothing truly tying them together, and they could've parted ways easily...at least, Lara thought so.  But she knew David.  David wanted her to be his wife, and she knew that if she lost David, it would bring back all the pain and loss she'd felt when Michael died.  Perhaps, even deeper, more painful.  She still had nightmares about Michael's death.  In those dreams, she was standing before Michael's secret grave, unable to move as the grave collapsed and Michael's rotting corpse rose from the hole, pointing his skeletal finger at her accusingly.  _"It should've been you...you let me die..."  _

            Lara always woke from those dreams, cold sweat bathing her.  She never told David about those dreams, but she had a feeling that David sensed something was up, but he never asked why.

            So, every time she heard David warm up to the idea of discussing marriage, Lara knew how to change the subject, distract him.  But he was becoming harder to placate recently.  As much as the idea appalled her, she realized that she actually felt a sense of relief while David was in the hospital, dying.  She even found herself wondering if it would be so bad if David _did_ die...

            She had to shake herself mentally after thoughts like those.  _I am not going to let David die...why, the very idea!!_  Lara opened up her laptop, narrowing her eyes as she checked the sonar.  "I'm not going to let that happen again...I am _not_ going to be the cause of David's death...!"

            The sonar signaled her, showing her a topographical map of the sea bottom.  She smiled as she saw a shallow dome at the hub of eight smaller domes.  The base was the size of a football stadium, and there was other movement in the sea around the base.  She brought the submersible to the ocean floor, hiding its profile amid rocks and other ground clutter to fool sonar.  "Right.  Let's see.  My, someone certainly went for the full option package with this base of operations.  I wonder if one gets a discount on construction costs when buying options like ultrasonic tremblers, motion detectors and…"  Her eyes widened slightly as she caught wind of electronic signals coming from groups of sharks that circled the base relentlessly.  "…biologicals.  Someone obviously doesn't want the neighborhood children to play on their front lawn."

            She sat back in her chair, mindful of the air supply.  "The sharks are likely there to seek out enemies by scent.  There's so much metal in the area that my pod hasn't set off their little noses, but it's likely that as soon as my own smell comes within range, I'll be fish food."  She tucked her braid under the hood of her wetsuit and opened up a case, picking up a bottle.  "Fortunately, a woman of my breeding knows when not to offend."  She smiled and sprayed a rather foul-smelling oil on her wetsuit.  "A little 'Eau de Great White' and I'll be able to mingle with the rest of the party easily.  Or at least until I get inside."  She picked up her wet-bag and airgun and made her way to the airlock.  As the small chamber filled with water, Lara popped the mouthpiece of the sea-lung into her mouth.  The sea-lung was a new development in underwater exploration.  Instead of an actual tank of portable atmosphere, the sea-lung was developed by the CIA as a means to prolong underwater operations by enabling the user to actual draw oxygen from the water itself by drawing the water through a series of membranes and pressurized chambers.  Of course, the wearer looked like she was holding a squid in her mouth, but what the sea-lung lacked in aesthetics, it more than made up for it by losing cumbersome SCUBA tanks, enabling Lara to carry more necessary gear.  _Still leaves the oddest taste in my mouth,_ Lara thought as she swam closer to the base, _and it's damnably uncomfortable.  I'm going to have to talk to Director Channing about that when I talk to him next._  

            She stopped and looked up as the sharks glided overhead, each one at least twenty feet long.  There was a pair that was bigger than the others, each not less than forty feet long.  _Those must be the alphas of the group.  Not even I have a wall big enough to mount _those_ trophies._  Lara waited, but the oil seemed to have done its work well.  The sharks were not more than sixty feet above her and they didn't even pause in their patrol.  She would've smiled if she hadn't been wearing the sea-lung.  _Good.  Now, time to get to work._

            She spent the next hour placing limpet mines over the structural supports of the base, each one capable of delivering a powerful explosive punch.  And with the charges designed to focus the explosive force in one direction, against their targets, the mines would easily cause enough damage to the supports to allow the pressure of trillions of gallons of water to do the rest.  And to make sure they weren't found, she'd colored the mines the same shade of the dull gray of the metal outside the base, and set up a passive receiving radio trigger, to keep the mines from being found by trying to trace their signal.  Once placed, they were invisible.  _Of course, now I have to get inside, and God only knows what's waiting inside.  If it weren't for the Spear inside, I'd blow the dome right now and watch the ocean crush it like an aluminum can for what they did to Dave._  

            Lara stopped as she realized how venomous that thought had been.  _Can't allow myself to be distracted like that.  My emotions will kill me faster than one of those sharks if I let myself be led astray.  Finish the job and find the Spear.  When Dave is up and around, _then_ I can put my attentions into revenge.  I'll even let Dave help.  After all, what sort of couple would we be if we didn't look for opportunities to do things together?_

            She nodded, then swam along the dome towards one of the hatches along the upper edge.

            The Matron looked up from her resting place in the main hall.  Construction was moving along smoothly.   The Gamma Hive was nearly complete, and the bio-mechanical computer systems were integrating nicely.  The defenses were in place, and once the final amenities for the Masters' Chambers was complete, the base would be one-hundred-percent online.

            One of the techs overseeing the project came in.  Her female form designated her as one of the managerial caste.  "Matron, we have a breach.  One of the hatches for the water filtration system has opened and closed outside of scheduled operations."

            _It's about time, Ms. Croft._  "How long ago?"

            "Two minutes."

            "Good.  I hated having to hold back the guards.  Instruct the technicians to clear the halls and chambers and return to their resting places, but quietly.  No announcements over the public address system.  Once that is done, release the Soldiers, but do not have her mangled.  I wish her body intact.  With it, we can turn her, perhaps even make her a Queen.  After all, she seems built for it.  And with her resources available to us, we can use them to gain even more power.  The Masters would reward us well if we were able to bring them into our world completely _ahead_ of schedule."

            "Your will be done, Matron."

            Lara crawled out of the muck of the water treatment pool, glad her wetsuit was a full-body type, but wishing that it fully covered her face.  The green scum stung where it touched her cheeks, and as she washed herself off in one of the pools of fresh water, she realized that the slime had actually eaten away at the sea-lung and was still trying to consume it.  She tossed it to the ground in disgust and cleaned her face thoroughly.  Whatever it was, the stinging sensation didn't last long and the reflective surface of her mask told her that there was no damage to her skin.  She gathered a sample of the substance for future examination, then looked around at the chamber she was in.

            The chamber was sizable, easily a hundred feet wide, and nearly every inch of the hexagonal room was covered in vats of water, half steeped in the green slime she'd encountered, the other half filled with crystal clear water.  She also noted feeling slightly high, and she recalled the feeling from her many times in the hospital.  _Oxygen…the oxygen in here is highly concentrated.  Must be a result of the purification process.  Remarkable…but highly flammable._  She made her way to the main door and opened it slowly, feeling air rush at her back as the water purifying chamber equalized the air pressure with the rest of the base.

            However, the rest of the base did not exactly resemble the chamber Lara had seen first.

            Instead of steel and glass, the interior of the base was covered, floor, walls and ceiling, in a light gray resinous compound.  She closed the door behind her and looked around, touching the wall to her left with a gloved hand.  _Very odd…what sort of material is this?  It doesn't look like any foam or plastic compound I've ever seen before.  It appears…organic._

            At that point, Lara was forced to consider what sort of creature could secrete a compound like this, as well as how large and how many there would have to be to be able to make this much.  Her fears were vindicated as she heard chittering coming from up ahead, and saw shadows moving in the dark.

            _Oh, bollocks…I'm in a sodding undersea _ant farm_!!_

            **TO BE CONTINUED…**


	22. Achilles' Heel, Part V: Between The Devi

**Achilles' Heel, Part V: Between The Devils And The Deep Blue Sea**

**By C. Mage**

          "What is the status of the Soldier Units?"

          "Closing on target, moving at high speed.  Contact in seventeen seconds."

          The Hive-Mother smiled.  "Excellent."

          Lara drew her MK5s, leaning back against one of the resinous supports of the tunnel.  She quickly pulled on her goggles and switched them from infrared to ultraviolet, then looked back down the corridor.  The creatures reminded her of ants, except these ants were the size of Dobermans and had oversized mandibles.  Their chitin was red, and from the way their mandibles dripped, Lara had no doubt she was facing huge fire ants.  She backed into the water filtration room and shut the door, reaching into her backpack and pulling out the small grapplegun. 

          The grapplegun she carried was based upon the one David had when she first met him, and recent developments in polymer research had enabled her to have the original desin modified.  The winch inside could now easily support four people, although it would overheat quickly if overloaded.  The line was now able to support a thousand pounds, while being extremely thin and compact when wound.  Add in the ergonomic nature of the grapplegun, nearly invisible when worn on the back of the forearm, and the self driving mini-pitons, and the device was quite capable of letting nearly anyone emulate the Amazing Spider-Man.

          _How appropriate, considering I'm up against insects._  She fired the line and let the winch pull her on top of one of the larger pipes.  As she crouched there, waiting for the ants to chew their way in, Lara racked her brain, trying to figure out a way to get past the ants as well as the other defenses of the base.  _If this base is using biological means of protection, then half my equipment will be useless.  They're designed to defeat radar, sonar, electronic security...no, there must be some electronic security here, but how can I get past the organic security?_

          The door opened and Lara swore, firing her guns as they came in, finding out that her armor-piercing rounds weren't as efficient as she had hoped...

          "What do the sensors say about our intruder?"  The Hive-Mother moved forward on six legs and she came into the light, revealing herself to her minions.  From the waist up, she would have been able to pass as human, in a dark alley.  Of course, if someone had taken a closer look at her, the multifaceted eyes, the mandibles jutting from her fanged mouth and complete lack of even a simple nostril might have convinced that person to run away...if they hadn't already seen the yellow and black striped bee's body from the waist down.  Not that the minions paid much attention; all of them had undergone a similar transformation, although not uniform.  Some looked very human, except for small details like vestigal wings or legs, but the others looked like horrific amalgamations of insect and human, from different species of insects like ants, bees, praying mantises, roaches and wasps.  One of the minions was clearly some sort of humanoid mosquito, two fresh bodies sitting by her position, tied up and nearly drained of blood.  She turned to the Hive-Mother and said, "The Soldiers do not smell anything out of the ordinary.  She is either dead or she escaped into the water once again."

          "Select members of the Ruler Castes to enter and investigate.  Instruct the Soldiers to scour the room for foreign matter and to consume it, and signal the underwater patrols.  Their dinner may have arrived early.  Are there any wounded Soldiers?"

          "Yes."

          "Have them report to the Spawning Chamber and prepare to die so the Broods may grow strong."  She turned from the displays and went to her chambers to commune with the Masters, report her progress.  Once that was done, she planned to play with one of the newer drones, one that had once been a bodybuilder obsessed with increasing his strength by any means possible.  Now, he was a nearly mindless drone, fit for only one thing.

          And she planned to use him for that as many times as she could.  Human hosts had their drawbacks, but enjoying the act of copulation was a welcome benefit...

          It had come to her as she thought about David.  She remembered a bright sunny day when she'd seen him taking care of a few chores, one of them being taking a box with the word POISON written on it and shaking out granules of dry chemical around the house.

          "What are you doing, Dave?"  Lara was stunning in her baby-blue bikini, heading out by the pool.  She enjoyed those few days during the summer when she could catch some rays, not to mention seeing David catch up on his landscaping ideas.

          "We've had a rash of ants lately, and I think someone imported a particularly hardy breed of fire ants here, so I'm going to get rid of them."

          "How so?"

          "Well, this stuff is guaranteed to get rid of the pests.  It's designed to kill the little buggers by killing off the whole hill.  You see, it looks and smells like food to them, but it's actually a slow-acting poison.  They eat it and bring it back to the queen, and bingo!  No more ants in the pantry."

          "I rather thought insects had well-developed senses of smell."

          "They do, but not that well developed.  See, ant soldiers are tenacious, but they're not bloodhounds or brain surgeons.  They don't make judgments based upon creative thought, they act on instinct.  They'll just pick up the food and bring it to the queen, not realizing that it's lethal until they're lying on their back with their legs curled in the air."

          Lara looked at David.  "You truly enjoy the sound of your own voice, don't you?"

          "Trust me, Lara, it helps to learn a bit about biology.  Plus, it's reassuring to know that there are some subjects out there where I'm the expert."  David grinned.  "Give me a few more minutes and I'll join you in the pool."

          "Who said I was going to the pool, Dave?"  Lara smiled and sauntered back inside, her hips swaying ever so suggestively.

          David watched the door close, then hurriedly scattered the contents of the box all over the courtyard.  "They'll get the idea," he said quickly as he ran inside...

          Lara blinked, then realized that she had a shot at surviving as she riddled two of the ants, then switched to the semi-auto 12-gauge with the sabot rounds.  Four more dropped in rapid succession, the sabot rounds punching through the chitinous exoskeleton.  _I hate it when things get messy,_ she groused as she jumped down next to two of the dead ants, then proceeded to rip open their thoraxes and abdomens and reach into the carcasses.  She drew out a foul-smelling slime and closed her eyes, then smeared it all over her body rapidly, coating herself in the thick ooze.

          The ants moved towards her, then stopped in confusion.  They had been commanded to find her and kill her, but as they sensed the air, she seemed to disappear from their "view".  Their antennae moved around frantically and Lara stayed absolutely still, fighting the urge to retch.  She considered that for a moment, then that was precisely what she did.

          The ants moved about as they picked up a new scent, the smell of digestive fluids.  They moved closer, then sensed foreign organic particles.  In their minds, they remembered their instincts as they recalled similar smells when gutting their prey with their mandibles.

          Their antennae moved more slowly now.  Nobody had ever tossed their recent meals out through the emergency exit in their experience, ergo, the only way they would smell it would be from the target's disemboweled corpse.  They sensed their wounded, but ignored the wounded and dead and proceeded to head back to their pens.

          Lara followed.  She had never liked insects; as a child, she'd always had someone nearby with a handy shoe to take care of them.  She may had grown since then, but so had the bugs.  It took all her will to move with the others, staying near the rear.  _I am glad no one is here videotaping this...I must look a sight!_  She shook her head.  _Dave, I hope you appreciate what I've been through to help you..._literally_ been through._

          As she traveled, she looked over the structure she moved through.  Her pace had to be brisk to stay in step with the other ants, but she did have time to gauge the interior defenses.  Instead of cameras and motion sensors, the walls and ceiling were latticed with small glowing blue objects, each the size of a golf ball.  They were firmly planted in the membranes of the hallways, givin Lara the uncomfortable feeling of literally walking through the insides of a living creature.  The floor was made of a resilient, but spongy substance that reminded Lara of rubber.  The substance covered the interior halls and rooms, and the glistening surface made Lara wonder if the material was actually manufactured...or spat up.

          What was annoying about the interior was that if there had been any signs or landmarks that indicated the varied functions of the base, they had been absorbed by the compound that covered everything.  Lara had no idea where she was.  _They must know the locations by instinct.  No, that cannot be right.  Right, think.  There are no signs or distinctive colors, so sight is out.  They're not eating their way through the halls, so it's obviously not taste.  The areas are cavernous, prone to echoes, so it's not by sound, and it's certainly not by touch._

          A thought occurred to her and she sniffed the air tentatively.  Sure enough, the air had a distinct tinge to it, but it was not overpowering, but subtle.  _Smell._  She smiled under her mask of gunk.  _That's why it's so hard to break into this place.  Their sense of smell is much higher, and they must have lines in the floor that they follow to get from place to place._  Lara brought out a small ultraviolet lamp and slowly moved back from the group when they reached an eight-way intersection.  When the group had moved past the threshold of the next tunnel, Lara turned on the light.

          She smiled as five different lines, each a foot wide, revealed themselves.  Two of them sported a different shade of bluish white, indicating that some other creature must have laid them.  _Bread crumbs for Antsel and Beetle to follow._ 

          As she looked, she noted one that looked dimmer, not as well used by the insects in question.  _I've got no other leads...and since I don't think the Spear would be an exhibit for these monsters, that might be the most likely direction._

          She looked around for other insects.  The passage was vacant.  She crossed her fingers and headed down the fainter path, trying to remember the pace of the ants and trying not to move too fast or too slow.  As Lara moved, she became aware of the fluids tha coated her body were starting to become sticky.  _I'd better hurry before this gunk dries out, or else I'm going to find myself once more coated by insect juice, only it'll be of the digestive variety._

"Well?" asked the Hive-Mother impatiently.

          "We were unable to find any trace of the target, apart from evidence that the target suffered from nausea potent enough for her to eject the contents of her stomach."

          The Hive-Mother looked at the representative from the Leader Caste, a female with the physical characteristics of a firefly.  The woman was once quite beautiful, but had sold her soul to the Masters for eternal beauty.  She now viewed herself the loveliest of her breed, although her standards were hardly the same anymore.  The graceful female torso that had once graced th covers of Vogue and Vanity Fair was largely intact, but her delicate hands were now claws, she had two sets of legs instead of one, a large bulb of glowing flesh sat affixed to her tailbone and her once-flawless face was now something only an entomologist could appreciate.  "Find where the surviving Soldiers are and have them brought to me.  I want their stomachs expunged so I can confirm her death.  If there's one thing I've learned about this Croft woman, it's that she just doesn't know when to lay down and die."  The firefly-woman nodded and went back to her post.      

          _It doesn't make sense.  Perhaps she did escape through the waterdock, and it's even possible that she evaded capture and consumption by our patrols.  But I can't afford to accept the idea that Lara Croft was turned back so easily._  "Scan the entire base and report anything out of the ordinary."

          One of the grasshopper drones turned to her.  "Define, 'out of the ordinary'."

          The Hive-Mother sighed.  Only after the human race had been Processed could she afford to live with such blind acceptance of order.  "Anything that indicates non-conformist behavior."

          The drone nodded, returning to his post.

          Lara stopped outside a door that irised open as she approached.  She entered without stopping as the door closed behind her.

          Only after she entered the large chamber did she stop and stare in awe and horror.

          Inside the room were large walls of flesh and sinew, rising from the floor to the ceiling.  Within the walls were large blister-like lesions, and inside each one was a person...or what used to be a person.  The figures inside were all undergoing a radical transformation, from human to insectoid.  Some were barely started, whereas others appeared to be much further along in their metamorphoses than others.  No two insect forms looked exactly alike.

          Lara moved through the spaces between the walls, growing horror building in her heart as she realized what was going on.  _These were all people once...God in Heaven, this is abominable!_ 

          She walked to the far side of the room and stopped as she saw that one part of the chamber had been set aside from the rest of the walls.  This part of the room was made up of a semi-circular wall with other people inside.  In the middle of the semi-circle was a large orb filled with clear green fluid, which pumped that fluid through the wall around it.

          Sitting in the middle of the orb was the Spear of Achilles.

          "Your Majesty...?"

          "Yes?" she asked, looking up from her service from the drone.  She remembered from her previous existence that copulation often helped to relieve stress, so she decided to see if it would help her frustration with finding Lara Croft.  Although enjoyable, the activity didn't relieve her the way she remembered.  _Yet another sacrifice made in the name of Progress._

          "I have been unable to locate the target, but all other processes seem to be in order."

          The Hive-Mother shifted position.  "There have been no variations at all?"

          "None, except for the additional security at the Birthing Chamber."

          "...additional security?"

          "Why, yes."  The reporting humanoid cockroach looked back down at her display.  "One of the Soldiers from the battle with the target reported to the Birthing Chamber."

          The Hive-Mother sat up, all interest in copulation with the drone forgotten.  "And you didn't tell me about this first?"

          "I assumed you had sent the Soldier in response to Lara's disappearance, to dissuade her from..."

          The Hive-Mother _screeched_ as she reached out and took hold of the roach's skull, squashing it like a styrofoam cup, then ripped open the roach's carapace, spilling its organs all over the floor.  The floor itself began to absorb the organic material as the Hive-Mother stood up quickly.  "Send the Mantids to the Birthing Chamber immediately!  Tell them to kill every living thing in that room not currently undergoing transformation!  DO IT NOW!!"

          Lara took a closer look at the tubes that led from the bulbous organ that held the Spear to the semi-circular wall.  Particles of the rust on the Spear were being circulated around the creatures taking shape, adhering to the flesh and the claws of the monsters within the pods.  The creatures stirred, twitched as the rust was absorbed into their bodies. Some of them were shrinking, obviously not accepting the compounds into their bodies, but the other ones seemed to thrive and grow larger as a result of the treatment.  _Looks like some sort of hardiness test, to see which breeds can handle the toxic compounds and which can not.  But if they've got the Spear, why would they be testing to see what breeds could resist the toxin?_

          Her eyes went wide as she realized that the rust from the Spar was actually being absorbed into the molecular makeup of the creatures inside.  Lara suddenly comprehended.

          The toxins were being absorbed into the creatures so they could be used as weapons...poisoned weapons with no antidote.

          Lara's eyes found their way to one particularly large pod.  She gasped as she realized that inside the pod was a young woman, barely out of her teens, heart-stoppingly beautiful...but only from the waist up.  From the waist down, a monstrous wasp queen's body twitched as the transformation continued, vestigal wings growing, insectile legs and a stinger the size of a butcher knife.  The woman inside turned and looked at Lara, and the adventuress realized that whatever was happening, the ones being changed were aware of what was around them, aware of what they were becoming.  The woman in the pod reached out to Lara, her fingertips pressed against the inner wall of the translucent pod, her mouth moving.  Lara's blood turned cold as she read the young girl's lips:

          "_Please...kill me..._"

          The mantids, women now armed (literally!) with forearm pincers and wide heads with multi-faceted eyes, moved quickly towards the Birthing Chamber, the most sacred of all rooms in the Hive.  They had no idea how long their enemy had lingered in the most revered of places, and the thought of that room defiled made them angrier than usual.  They barged into the room, heading for the rear to check on the status of the Hive-Mother's great experiment.

          The leader of the troop stopped as her fears were realized.  The Spear of Achilles was gone!  Worse yet, some of the pods had been punctured with some sort of instrument and the precious nutrient fluid that assisted the Change was spurting out all over the floor.  The leader rushed over to the pod of the upcoming Queen, attempting to seal the hole as the others tried to do the same to the other pods.

          As the leader labored to patch the hole, she saw that the Queen was holding something close to her body as if cradling a doll.  The mantid looked closer.  The Queen turned her body as best she could to keep the mantid from seeing it.  Finally, the Queen-to-be turned and looked at the mantid with a smile.

          "What are you holding?"  the mantid asked hurriedly, fearful that Lara might have poisoned the Queen.  "Show me!"

          The young woman in the pod smiled and held out the object, a small, circular device with a metal stick poking out of it, two buttons and two lights, one red, one green.  One of the buttons was pressed down, the one with the word ARM.  The red light was on and blinking.

          The mantid leader looked up at the girl, who had closed her eyes and bore a smile of unparalleled serenity.  "_Freedom,_" the girl mouthed and everything went bright for a split-second, then everlasting darkness.

          Lara had barely managed to get out of the room in time as the mantids had passed under her.  _Good thing their new eyes still conform to human norms, or I'd have been a sitting..._

She turned the corner and pressed her back against one of the other walls as the walls, ceiling and floor shook with the blast.  After a moment, she looked around the corner to the door she had recently bolted through.  Little streams of water were spraying through the cracks in the door.

          _That's not going to hold for long.  _Lara sprinted off down the hallway, hoping she'd chosen the right direction.

          The Hive-Mother's rage was legendary in its ferocity.  After she realized that the Birthing Chamber was now so much fish food, she had lashed out against the ones watching the monitors in the room, slaying them all to an insect.  Not even the drone she had been playing with had been safe; she'd literally bitten his head off!

          She called for replacements, who simply pushed the corpses out of the way and took their places.  "FIND LARA CROFT!!" she screamed shrilly.  "Send out every Warrior in the base!  Command them to sting anything that moves in the hallways!"

          "But, Hive-Mother, what about the workers in the hallways?"

          The Hive-Mother turned to the fly drone who'd spoken.  "We can always get more!  Give the order!  I want her body prepared for dinner, but make sure she isn't killed.  I want her _alive_ when I devour her.  GO!"

          Lara stopped outside another door, one that had very little traffic in and out of it.  _Let us hope this is a storage room for something not too particularly foul..._

          She entered the room and suddenly realized that she was not being very lucky today.

          Inside the room were several containers filled with what appeared to be large glass slides.  The containers were all linked together with wires and resinous tendons carrying electrical power and fluids of different shades to and from the containers.  _If I didn't know better, I'd say these looked like servers,_ Lara thought.  She moved to one of the open panels an looked inside, seeing the edges of several different glass slides.  _What in the world...?_

          She drew one out and held it up to the light.  What she saw made her stomach do flip-flops in her belly.

          The slide as made up of two clear panels with a section of human brain matter, neatly sliced, sandwiched between the panels.  Trails of synapse ganglions connected the brain section to the outside of the slide.  _Dear God in Heaven, these creatures are using the brains of people as computer hardware!  What a pack of soulless monsters!_

          A screen to her right flashed and she turned quickly, putting the plate back into the "mainframe."  It glowed, then letters began to form on the screen.

          WHO ARE YOU?

          "The better question might be, 'who are _you_?'" she mused aloud.  Before she could say another word, the screen began to fill up with words...names.  Lara watched in growing horror as the names became so numerous, they began to overlap each other.  Finally, the screen cleared, leaving only one phrase:

          MARK 5:9

          "'So Jesus asked, "What is your name?"  And the man replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many."'" Lara quoted from the Bible. "Is...is there anything I can do to help you?"

          DO YOU INTEND TO DESTROY THIS PLACE?

          "If I can."

          PROMISE US YOU WILL DESTROY THIS PLACE UTTERLY.

          "I will."

          THEN WE SHALL HELP YOU.  WE CAN CONFUSE THE SECURITY SYSTEMS, BUT IF THE HIVE-MOTHER DISCOVERS WHAT WE ARE DOING, WE WILL BE FORCED TO ENDURE PAIN AS PUNISHMENT.  DO NOT FORCE US TO ENDURE ANY MORE PAIN THAN WE ALREADY HAVE.

          Lara nodded.  "Thank you."  _Now…now I have to get out of here and manage to survive.  I'm running low on ammunition and I need to find an alternate means of getting to the surface.  I don't think I'll be able to clear the blast radius in time and if I don't find a pressurized capsule to use, I won't have to worry about the bugs killing me.  Unmanaged decompression will do that for me._

          She considered her options, a resource she was dangerously low on.  _There has to be a way out.  Figuring it out from the inside is useless, everything looks the same here.  I'd need to grow antennae to find my way around and I'm not quite ready to make that drastic a lifestyle alteration._  She racked her brain, then realized she was far too vulnerable to be distracted by such trivial matters of finding the means of escape when surviving to make that escape was infinitely more important. 

          Her eyes widened.  She remembered the layout from the maps she'd seen and the view she'd had from the outside.

          She knew where to go.

          The Hive-Mother was literally buzzing in rage now. 

          The security systems were malfunctioning, a systematic chain-reaction of errors that made finding Lara Croft more and more difficult.  She made a note to herself to find out who was responsible for preparing the bio-computers, apparently bungling a simple job like erasing memories from the brain-boards.  _I always knew that once enough of the brain-boards were assembled, eventually a consciousness might arise.  The fools Thought they could control the flesh with such superficial methods.  Idiots.  Weaklings and worse. When the Masters come and the Earth is transformed into the paradise intended, the stain of humanity will be erased forever.  And it couldn't be completed soon enough to suit me._

          She moved out of the control room and flew up through the shaft to the chambers above, her private room.  In this place alone did she feel she could reach those she served, surrounded by the artifacts stolen from the old places where they fell, eons ago.  Discarded and mis-marked by archaeologists, she and others like her realized what they were.

          Conduits to those who ruled worlds millions of years ago, only to remain as under-evolved parasites and lower life-forms.  The Masters never told her what the Calamity had been, only that it destroyed the Masters' bodies, their energies left to drift in chaos.  They drifted and slowly regained their strength, not out of emotion or passion, but for those needs that made the Masters what they were.

          Order…and hunger.

          The Masters' thought processes were alien at first, but she came around.  They always did.  Weak wills always succumbed, or died trying to resist.  It was easy to take advantage of the insecurities of others, tell them what they wanted to hear, give them the illusion of granting their requests through the transformations…they never knew what was truly happening until their souls were forced out of their bodies, forced out by the new "owners".

          She still remembered her old life clearly.  Unlike others, she had embraced the transformation wholeheartedly.  Souls were, after all, an overrated commodity.

Power was forever.

          She reached out towards one of the artifacts, the one that she had found personally on a dig in Tibet.  Its power was strong, and the thought of her using it to turn Lara Croft into a slave to the Masters' will appealed to her greatly, even more than the thought of eating her alive.

          "Hive-Mother?"

          She sighed and looked to one of the screens.  "What is it now?"

          "Hive-Mother," began the stag beetle, "you ordered us to inform you of changes in procedure.  Does that apply to your own actions?"

          "What do you mean?" she asked angrily.  "My actions are nothing if not the will of the Masters!"

          "Then why have you begun preparations for your departure?"

          The Hive-Mother would've blinked if she still had eyelids.  "WHAT??"

          "The Royal Capsule has begun launch preparations."

          "That's impossible!  I've done nothing to…CROFT.  It _has_ to be her.  She's using the Capsule as an escape pod!  How did she get to the pod?  How did she get past our troops?"  She shook her head and dropped the artifact.  "Send our troops to that Capsule, but do not try to attack.  Surround it and keep her from escaping, and move the patrols to surround the Capsule from the sea to cut off her escape.  She is not going _anywhere._"  She smiled as she rose, traveling down the chute.  "I have you now, Lara Croft."

          The Hive-Mother reached the hallway to the pod and stopped.  "Lara Croft!" she yelled.

          From inside the Capsule, she heard, "What do you want?  I'm busy."

          "You have no way to escape, Lara.  The Capsule won't take you to safety."  The Hive-Mother smiled in pride, finally having outwitted the adventuress.

          "Too bad this thing doesn't have a window to the hallway.  I wish I could see your face right now."

          "Oh?  And why is that?"

          "Easy.  I wanted to see the look on your face when your house of cards coming crashing down."

          "And how do you propose to do that?  Wishful thinking?"  She reached for the panel to unlock the door.

          "Actually, I was thinking of using plastic explosives.  And don't you touch the door, unless you want to go for a swim."

          The Hive-Mother stopped.  "What are you babbling about?"

          "I've placed explosives all over the base, placed around the junctures of the sections of your little Atlantis.  I press this little button, and you get to find out how the _Titanic_ feels."

          The Hive-Mother stopped.  "You're bluffing.  You wouldn't do all this to kill yourself in the bargain."

          "I've seen you for what you are.  I've seen your little Chamber of Horrors."

          "Isn't it beautiful?  Soon, the grime and filth you've created will be swept away and the human race will be replaced by a superior life-form, a superior race.  Just like the dinosaurs."

          "Oh, really?  And what will happen if a life-form superior to yours comes along?  You going to gracefully give up your place in the food-chain?"

          "We might…if it weren't for the fact that the Masters are the _ultimate_ life-form.  There is no form of life higher."  The Hive-Mother reached for the door panel once again.

          "Before you go and do something you'll regret, I call your attention to the wireless video camera just over your head."  The Hive-Mother looked up and saw the camera, scowling.  "Back up and take your little Bug Scout army with you.  A nice, respectable distance, thank you."

          The Hive-Mother scowled, but complied.  She turned to one of the drones and instructed him to notify the patrols to find the explosives and remove them.  "And what do you hope to get out of all this?"

          "Freedom.  You let me go and I won't force you to need to evolve into fish."

          "You can not escape.  I will not let you."

          "Oh, I'm sure you will.  After all, you cannot serve your precious Masters when you're dead."

          The Hive-Mother hissed at her, "I won't let you escape!"

          "Then I guess I'm going to either die or be force-changed into one of those things in the hallway.  Better I die first, and if I'm going to go, I'm going to bloody well take you with me!!"

          "WAIT!"

          "Yes?" Lara said sweetly.

          "Very well…maybe we can come to some sort of deal."

          "Good bug.  Now, just to prove to you that I'm not bluffing, I'm going to make my point clear.  Remember those little submersibles you use for emergencies?"  There was a pause.  "I'm afraid what's going to happen is a _real_ emergency."

          The Hive-Mother's eyes turned from black to a light gray as she felt a shuddering in the base.  She turned to one of the drones.  "What's happening?"

          "The sub dock has been destroyed!  There's nothing but debris and derelict subs rising to the surface."

          "BITCH!!"

          "Now now, name calling is so beneath a superior life-form, Hive-Mother.  Sure you don't need to re-think that classification?"

          "Shut up, Lara!"

          "And so easy to irritate.  So much for self-control and calm order.  Maybe what you are, what the Masters are, is just another bunch of ravening beasts who like order only until they get what they want…and then it's open season."  Lara paused.  "You know, Hive-Mother, you really want to see what defines a higher life-form?"

          _Just a little longer…need to keep her talking until all the explosives are found!_  "Humor me, Ms. Croft."

          "Creativity."

          "Creativity incites chaos.  Chaos denies order.  Order must be maintained."

          "If that's true, then all you need to do is open Door #1 and find out what you've won.  Go ahead.  I want to see the look on your face…"

          The Hive-Mother smiled and opened the door.  The smile vanished as she saw that the only occupant of the Capsule was a radio with duct tape around the TALK button.  Lara's voice came through loud and clear.  "…but I'm afraid this radio isn't equipped with a camera, expensive as it is."

          "WHAT…WHERE…?"

          Lara's voice came through the radio as if she was right there.  "Well, as much as I would love to continue this interesting conversation, I'm afraid I've got to go.  But let me leave you with two little words that mean _so _much."

          The Hive-Mother didn't answer as the implications of what Lara was saying began to dawn on her.  Her mouth hung open as she knew that the next two words she would hear would be the last she'd ever hear.

          "_Bomb_ voyage."

          David awoke, moaning slightly as he stirred in pain.  "Uhhhhhh…"

          "Dave?"

          David opened his eyes to see Lara sitting next to his bed, dressed in a surprisingly conservative dress.  "Huh?  Lara?"

          "Take it easy, Dave.  You're going to be fine, but you'll be on the mend for a bit longer."  She smiled as she bent over him.  "But if you think I'm going to dress up like a nurse, I'm afraid that it's not going to happen.  Terribly sorry."

          "But…Lara, what happened?  Where were you?"

          "It's a long story, Dave."

          "Well, I think I'm going to be here for a while, so spill."

          "All right, since you asked so nicely for a bedtime story.  I warn you, though, it isn't Cinderella."  Lara pulled up a chair and sat down, telling him about the trip to Greece, finding the antidote formula, finding out about the insectoids.

          "Bugs?  Aw, jeez, as if my life wasn't interesting enough."

          Lara continued on about being betrayed, finding the undersea base, the technologies within and the use of human beings as raw material.

          "Geez, sounds like a real horrorshow.  Hey, wait, if they could track you through the base through your smell, how did you manage to evade them after you blew their little incubators?"

          "I was hoping you'd ask," Lara said, more than a little proud of her idea.  "The base was originally built as a harvester, to farm the resources of the sea floor.  Before it was completed, the industrialist involved became a host for one of those things.  He retrofitted it for experimentation, away from prying eyes, and since all their technology seems to be organic, they could dispose of the experiments without a chance of it being discovered."

          "I'm assuming there's a point to this architectural history lesson."

          "Well, when I scouted out the area before entering, I found that there was some part of the base that had been decommissioned, but not destroyed.  There was a series of heat exchangers that ran throughout the base to make sure the people inside the base didn't succumb to the freezing temperatures of the deep water.  Since the bugs apparently wanted to test how hardy their experiments were, they shut off the boilers.  Also, since they used their own secretions to redecorate their new base…"

          "Please tell me you took a long, hot shower before coming here."

          "…they never bothered to reactivate the heaters or alter their construction.  So I dug away at one of the conduits, got inside and made it to the Hive-Mother's personal garage.  Once there, I booby-trapped the submersible, hustled back to the exploratory submersibles and crossed a few wires, making them think I was in one place when I was actually in another.  Once I had their attention, I escaped in one of the submersibles, and blew the dock a few moments later, letting them think I was cutting off their avenues of escape when I was actually making good mine.  After I was a good pace away, I set off the rest of the explosives.  The water pressure did the rest.  The base collapsed like a house of cards."

          "A crushing defeat, one might say?"  David smiled weakly.

          "Ugh, and I thought only your body was sick.  Now I know you have an infected sense of humor."  Lara shook her head.  "To make a long story even longer, I made the salve I needed to save your sorry American arse, came here, and the rest is, well, history."  She leaned back and draped an arm over the back of the chair.  "And I am certifiably exhausted."

          "I'll agree with the certifiable part.  How long did it take to make the salve?"

          "Not long.  The formula was simple, but it was the shopping that took the time."  She took out a file.  "Had a couple of friends take a little metallurgical test or two…the metal of the spearhead conforms to no earthly metal.  Light as aluminum, but stronger than steel.  The big mystery, of course, was how the techniques of forgery in that time period could've possibly shaped that metal."

          "Meteorite?"

          "Either that, or the goddess Thetis pulled a string or two."

          "Achilles' mom, right?"

          "Right.  You know, you're starting to get good at this.  Somebody might mistake you for a historian someday."  Lara smiled.

          "Oh, ha ha.  So you're going to give the Spear back to the museum?"

          "Not this time.  According to my official report, the Spear was lost when the base became an aluminum can in the hands of an overzealous weightlifter.  It belongs to the other 'lost' artifacts in my vault, far away from prying eyes and vengeful minds."

          "Won't the guys who did the tests tell?"

          "No.  You can be sure of that."  Lara smiled.  "I can be very persuasive."

          "Do tell."  David winced as he tried to sit up.  "Did you talk to the doc about how soon I can get out of here?"

          "Tomorrow.  I promise."

          "Alright.  Can't wait."

          "David Connors?"

          "Mmmmmmm….what?"  David opened his eyes, looking around blearily.  "What time is it?"

          "It's sometime around two a.m. and I wish to talk with you."

          David wiped his eyes with one hand, looking up through the dim light at the matronly woman standing over his bed.  "Who are you?"

          "A mother.  May we speak?"

          David groaned slightly.  "Sure, sit down."  As the woman sat next to the bed, David sat up slightly.  _Must be some good drugs, I barely feel any pain at all._  "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

          "I came to apologize."

          "For what?"

          "My boy…he left his toys around, people pick them up and do bad things with them.  It's not his fault, he…forgets things.  He's a good man, but he's had his troubles."

          _Great, someone must have left the door open to the mental ward._  "I don't quite understand."

          "One of his toys, his favorite, actually…it hurt you, and I am sad to say that I gave it to him."

          "Lady, I'm not quite sure if you know what happened.  I was stuck with a sharp weapon, and I don't think…"

          "Tut tut, David Connors.  It was the spear I gave him."

          David stopped.  "What spear?"

          "Come now, David.  I gave it to him.  You think I wouldn't recognize its handiwork?"

          "…and that would make you the goddess Thetis."

          She smiled.  "I'm flattered that you'd remember the name of an old river spirit."

          "Uhm, well…I was kind of expecting…well, you know…"

          "Ancient Greek clothing?  Not as flattering as this lovely dress, I must say."  She smiled.  "Now, about the Spear…"

          "It's in a safe place."

          "Well, I cannot seem to find it, but I am curious as to how you did it."

          "Sorry, can't tell you."

          "Why not?"

          "Personal reasons."

          "And those reasons are…?"

          "Personal." 

          Thetis looked at David carefully, with that critical eye patented by mothers everywhere.  "David…"

          "Your son has passed on.  So he left his toys here.  Trust me, I have knowledge of the safest toybox on the planet.  Besides, if you know me as well as you seem to, you know that I'll make sure it doesn't get misused."

          Thetis looked at David critically.  "And if you find you cannot keep it safe?"

          "Then you'll be the first person I dial."

          Thetis stood up.  "I'll hold you to it, David Connors.  But if you disappoint me, rest assured, you've heard about the fury of a woman scorned…but that pales in comparison to a mother scorned."

          "I'll take your word for it.  Never had a mother."

          "That must have come as something as a shock to your father."

          David sobered.  "Didn't have one of those either."

          "You mean you appeared full grown?  And they say there are no miracles anymore."

          "Look, I'm an orphan.  I don't have parents, I just had new foster parents every so often."

          "Really?  That's odd.  From what I understand, they're rather proud of how you've turned out."

          David stared at her.  "That…is SO not funny."

          "David, I'm afraid that certain information about yourself has been kept from you for a long time.  I cannot say why, but you were given away for your own safety.  No, don't get up.  Just rest.  You'll need to."

          "You're talking in riddles, lady.  And what I do understand from your words, I don't like."

          "Life is inherently unfair, David.  Anyone who tells you different is trying to relieve you of hard-won money."  She stood up.  "I have to go.  I'm deeply concerned about a group of developers who want to dump poison into my waters."

          "Need a hand?"

          She smiled.  "Don't worry.  I'm just going to handle it myself.  You'd be surprised how often people drown in their own bathtubs in these modern times."  She walked to the door, opened it, then turned to look at David.  "You have a great destiny ahead of you, David Connors.  Keep your eyes open in the days ahead, and don't give up on Lara.  She needs you more than you realize, and you need her."

          "Now I know you're blowing smoke.  She's trying to dodge me."

          "Do you love her, David?"

          David didn't hesitate a second.  "With all my heart."

          "Then perhaps you should live up to the American ideal and not give up.  Just a thought."  Thetis left and closed the door behind her. 

David looked at the door for a long time.

TO BE CONTINUED… 


	23. The Unkindest Cut, Part I: Star Power

**The Unkindest Cut, Part I: Star Power**

**By C. Mage**

"Ms. Pierson, you're on in fifteen!"

Brittany Pierson, megastar of radio, TV, and silver screen (one movie in the can and another in the works), nodded and checked her appearance. Her hairstylist teased her hair, giving it her trademark look, that of someone who just came in from a heavy workout or a fresh bath. Once that was done, her stylist held up a mirror so Brittany could check every aspect of her appearance. The opening song was her more controversial, "Be My Master Tonight", and she'd decided to go with an Arabian-themed harem girl outfit, with a touch of leather here and there to look more exotic. Publicly, she enjoyed the limelight and the attention to her sexuality, but privately, she was beginning to have second thoughts about the entire public relations gimmick. _The things I have to do to keep up record sales...retirement is really starting to look good right about now._

Her door opened and she looked up as a man entered wearing a SECURITY shirt and badge. "Connie, not another gift from your 'secret admirer'?" Brittany turned back towards the mirror, checking over her appearance once more. Everything had to be perfect for tonight. "Connie, how much time do I have left?"

"_None,_" said a male voice right behind her. She was about to turn when a pair of strong hands grasped her arms, while another hand grabbed her trademark hairstyle and yanked it back, baring her throat. Her eyes went wild and she drew back a breath to scream, then something slashed through the front of her neck. The razor edge nearly sliced her voice box in two, reducing her terrified scream to a loud gurgling noise. The two murderers let her fall, and she tried to at least get a look at her assassins, but darkness took her vision and she collapsed, not quite dead. The two figures bent over her, and the last thing she heard before mercifully entering the hereafter was, "_Once was slut, now is cut. What was within, is now without..._"

"Alright...give me the bad news." Lt. Max Kellaway rubbed his head, shaking out a pair of Excedrin and popping them into his mouth, crunching them between his teeth.

"Just like the other two, I'm afraid. Brittany Pierson was apparently murdered by her hairstylist and one of her security men, both employed by her for almost her entire career. No apparent motives. Killing wound was made by a knife of some kind, razor sharp, cut her throat. The perpetrators then, while she was still yet alive, turned her on her back and started cutting into her with surgical precision. These two didn't hack into her, they removed her lungs and her liver. Those are yet to be accounted for." The officer pulled out another set of papers. "Both the hairstylist and the security man were found in the room, deep coma, looks of what can only be described as 'expressions of intense fear' on their faces, expressions that have yet to go away, according to the doctors."

"This is a nightmare...three popular stars, two actresses, one singer, all mutilated and with organs removed, people nearby almost frightened to death and no leads. You'd think it'd be easier...the press is having a field day, the Commissioner is breathing down my neck..." He sighed. "...and the feds are getting involved."

"Sir...if I may make a suggestion?"

Lt. Kellaway looked up. "Yes?"

"I know someone who might be able to help us out. He's had considerable experience with similarly bizarre happenings, and he is associated with an expert on the unusual as well."

"Can we trust him not to make a spectacle out of all this?"

"He was once NYPD, sir."

Lt. Kellaway sighed. "Better than nothing, I suppose. So, what's the name of this expert, by the way?"

"Lara Croft!"

Lara shook her head. She heard the familiar tone, realized that, once again, she was going to be in the fight of her life. It was going to be dangerous, having to work so hard to avoid pain, humiliation, the desire to take a human life. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't that she felt overwhelmed, perhaps even, dare it could be voiced aloud...inadequate for this?

NO. She would proceed to the field of battle, even if it meant a losing fight.

Lara sighed and walked into the den where David was hooking up the PS2 and putting in the SOUL CALIBUR II disc. "Come on, Lara...time to play."

"David, sweetheart, couldn't we find something else to do? Go out for a drive? Watch a movie? Juggle live grenades?"

"Hey, you lost the coin toss fair and square. Tonight, we hang out, order in pizza and play some PS2."

"But why this game?"

"Because you need to get over this fear of failure. And let's face it, Lara, you are a poor loser." David smiled. "I know you've been having trouble with this game, so tonight, we're going to work on learnin' you a few things so I don't kick your butt all the time."

Lara looked at David, a tear forming in her eye. "You mean, we're not just going to fight tonight? You're going to help me master this bloody game?"

"Sure!"

Lara looked upon David with a deep love that can only come from something truly heaven-sent. "I...cannot find the words...!"

"Well, I know you've been having some trouble, and I know how much you hate to lose in a fight, so..."

Lara leaped across the couch and kissed David soundly. "Take me, mold me into a true fighting game warrior Dave, and I'll wear that belly dance costume for you..."

The door opened and Mannfred entered slowly. "Lady Croft, there is an overseas phone call for you and David. Shall I put it through?"

Lara sighed. "Play-time's over, I suppose..." She stood up and walked saucily over to the phone, for David's benefit. He wasn't sure why Lara had become more playful in the last few weeks since his recovery, but he didn't mind that much.

It gave him time to figure out how to pop the question to her. Ever since he knew, deep in his heart, that he wanted to marry her, he'd been racking his brain to think of how and when to ask her to marry him. Being flat on his back for weeks gave him plenty of opportunity to think about it.

"Hello? Yes, this is Lara Croft. David Connors? Yes, he's here. Hold on a mo while I put you on the speaker." Lara pressed a button on the phone and asked, "Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear. How about...?"

"Kellaway?" David asked, surprised. "How the heck did you get this number?"

"You know me?" Kellaway asked.

"Yeah, I know you. The Montgomery case in '96? You wanted to bust me down to traffic cop for extraditing one of your suspects."

"Yeah, out a friggin' window."

"You wanted answers and I needed my perp returned to New York. We both got what we wanted after we got out of that tree."

"Nevertheless...." Kellaway continued testily, "I want to employ you both as consultants on a case we've got going on here."

"Both? Lara's not an officer of the law and never has been...well," David amended, looking at Lara, "not unless you count that night when you put on that officer's uniform and offered to frisk me."

"Yes, and I did get rather frisky as a result..."

"OH PLEASE," Kellaway groaned, "can't you two be serious about this? Three women have been butchered and mutilated beyond recognition and you two are screwing around, literally!"

That sobered them up. "Sorry, Kellaway," David said apologetically. "But the question stands, why Lara?"

"All of the killings had some elements that suggested the involvement of occult rituals. Lara's one of the best in that field."

"_The_ best," David corrected. Lara smiled at him.

"So, David, Lara, you two going to help me out, or are you going to take turns bitching and breeding?"

"Back to the States. You know, it has been a while since I saw the skies over America." David looked out the window of the Concorde as the East Coast came with view. "I wonder why it's been so long since we came bacK?"

"Well, our last two jaunts across the Pond weren't not the most enjoyable of times. Nearly lynched by white supremacists and facing down zombies isn't what I'd call a good time."

David turned to Lara with a smile. "You are _so_ full of crap."

"What?"

"You're an adrenaline junkie, just like me. You loved the excitement and don't try to tell me otherwise."

"Perhaps I did enjoy it...in a nerve-wracking-nightmarish-imminent-death sort of way. The point is, David, we're going to have to face facts. We may have to consider..."

"What?"

"Oh, I don't know. Let's take a look at the files they faxed over. I don't like the way this conversation is turning out." She clumsily, but effectively changed the subject, pulling out her laptop. "According to the information, we're dealing with some rather sick characters. Check out these photographs."

David looked at the scanned images and grimaced. "Ugh. Jeffrey Dahmer's Ugliest Home Videos." He checked the name on the photos and looked through the papers to confirm it. "Brittany Pierson, the pop singer? I knew her videos were wild, but this is beyond even the standards of rock & roll."

"Third in a line of three famous women. The first was Betty Boobs, a famous porn actress. Considered a veteran in the industry, someone apparently decided to put her to work in a snuff film. The second was Mary-Jerica Jones, an A-list actress who leaned towards provocative roles, untill someone decided she needed a role in a horror movie. And finally, Brittany."

"Connections?"

"Besides their fame, they all were killed by the same weapon, a razor-sharp knife. From the forensic reports, the knife was relatively small. All showed signs of being restrained by one or more persons at the time of their deaths. Death was invariably caused by a slash across the throat, bleeding the victim out as the culprit then proceeded to remove certain organs from the bodies. Although different organs were removed from each victim, they were removed with surgical precision."

"Witnesses?"

"In all cases, yes, but they're not very talkative. In every case, there was at least one person nearby who might've witnessed or taken part in the crime, but there's just one problem. In all instances, those individuals were incapable of providing testimony."

"Dead?"

"No, comatose. According to this, cat-scans were performed to locate any possible trauma to explain their conditions. Nothing. No unexplained brain trauma, no unexpected bio-chemical reactions. It's as if they just shut off."

David frowned. "Let me see the medical reports." Lara handed him the hardcopy and he looked them over. After a few minutes, he looked up. "Eureka."

"What? You found something?"

"I think so. Look at the examinations of the brain. There's the same patch of red on the MRI. And check out the chemical tests. High levels of endorphins and adrenaline."

"Isn't that common during crimes of passion?"

"Look at the levels. They are way above even those tolerances. And check out where the red area is. If this scan is correct, this is in the cross-section between higher brain functions and the pleasure/pain center of the brain."

"What do you deduce from all this, Mr. Holmes?" Lara asked, now quite curious.

"Not-so-elementary, Watson. According to these results, each one was experiencing extremely high levels of pleasure, indicating great euphoria during the crimes. Usually a candidate for serial killers, although this is high for even those. At the same time, the pain center of the brain was actually having a reaction so powerful, the synapses between that center and the rest of the brain were actually overloading, as if they were trying to short-circuit themselves. Mind-bending pleasure and deep-seated psychological pain at the same time? That's not possible...at least, under normal conditions."

"Since when have we ever been involved with conditions that could be considered, 'normal'?"

David looked at Lara's smirking face and nodded. "Things did get progressively wierder since I met you."

"So, you're the criminologist. What's our next step?"

"Figure out the motivations. Always boils down to one of three things: sex, money or power. Take any crime and one of those factors caused it. So...let's look at what we've got here. What's the common factor between them?"

"They are all celebrities."

David looked over the files. "No...never that simple. Let's look deeper. They don't run in the same circles, not in the same geographical area. But these women were hand-picked for a reason..." David looked over the files again. "Hmmm...maybe..."

"What?"

"It's a little thin."

"So, it might be better than nohing."

"According to this, the actress Mary-Jerica just wrapped up the seventh season of the seris, 'Lust in Metropolis', something I'm sure Clark Kent would not approve of, to say the least."

"How would that make a connection?"

"Don't think of the women. They're performers. Think of the roles they play."

Light dawned on Lara's face. "Their professional roles painted them as promiscuous women of loose virtue, to put it gently."

"Exactly. We're looking for a guy who seems to have a Jack-the-Ripper complex, or a copycat. But that's where the formula breaks down."

"What do you mean?"

"Serial killers like that work alone. These guys have a particular M.O. and they stick to it like krazyglue. This is the work of a small, very coordinated team, or teams. And those comatose victims with the fuses in their brains blown...were they witnesses who saw something horrible and wonderful at the same time, or did they all take part? And if they did take part, why? And there's something else that shows that someone is pulling their strings."

"What's that?"

"Body parts missing, all removed with a surgeon's skill, and there's no murder weapon left behind. Someone is masterminding all this." David closed the files and leaned back in his chair. "I gotta tell you, Lara, this guy looks like major bad news. I'm not fond of the idea of someone able to get close to celebrities with security better then the President with a head full of wiring _this_ bad."

Lara nodded. "Dave, it's not all that, is it? I know you too well. Deep down, you really want, no, need to take this monster off the streets. As worried as you are, this is what you're good at doing. I may be able to decipher Sanskrit at fifty-five characters a minute, but I couldn't get half the insight you get from going through these files."

"Welll...OW!" David tuned to Lara after feeling her swat the back of his head. "What did you do THAT for?"

"To make sure you don't start getting a swelled head over it, that's all." Lara grinned, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Oh, ha ha. No playing rough, dear, or I'll make them take your pillow away."

"I've been asked to comply with your requests," Sgt. McCormick said with a polite smile. "Is there anything I can get for you?"

"Yeah, we need the original photographs of the crime scene."

Sgt. McCormick nodded as David sat down in one of the extra desks at the precinct and Lara did likewise across from him. Some of the other officers looked at them from time to time, but for the most part, the police left them alone. That suited them just fine.

Lara looked around surreptitiously, trying to look as if she belonged behind a police desk. One of the female officers walked over to them, carrying a manila envelope. "Here you go," she said with a smile, the eyes lingering just a little too long over Lara's body with admiration, then she went back to her desk. Lara turned to David and whispered, "Am I wearing a sign that says, 'Make A Pass At Me'?"

"You're irresistable, get used to it." David smiled.

Lara sighed and took out the stack of photos, looking them over. Instead of looking at the body, she concentrated on looking over the crime scene, passing each one to David as she finished examining them. Instead of making a neat stack like Lara did, David systematically arranged the photos around the desk, setting up a "big picture" look at them. "Anything, Lara?"

"Look at the second group of seven pictures. Those marks look like the sigils used by the Order of St. Hermes."

"I saw the marks, but what do they mean?"

"They're used for certain forbidden rituals involving sacrifices. They're abominations cannibalized from exorcism rituals."

"Sounds gruesome. Could they be anything else?"

"Unlikely. What are you getting?"

"A theory. But this only looks like part of the puzzle. There's something missing." He looked them over. "We've got a pattern, though. Lara, tell me about these rituals."

"During the Dark Ages, the Order of St. Hermes was the part of the Catholic Church dedicated to knowledge of other occult practices. To defend themselves against evil spiris, they created wards and circles to protect themselves against the influence of those hostile spirits."

"Demons."

"Among other things, yes. These symbols were used to keep the soul from being released, trapping them to where they could be addressed and banished. The thing of it is, these are incorrectly used."

"You lost me."

"Think of it like someone using an ambulance as a moving van. The ambulance is intended for one purpose, but adapted for another. Same for these runes..."

David nodded, then went back to the inventory of the crime scenes. As he pored over the evidence, something caught his eye. He tapped the intercom. "Sergeant, bring in the letters from the crime scene."

"You have an idea, Dave?"

"Better. A hunch."

The policeman brought in the letters and David looked through them, picking out ones from each of the crime scenes. "This one's from the first murder...and this one's from the second...and this one just came in from the third."

"What's your hunch?"

"These murders were planned for a purpose. People with purposes like these tend not to be modest. Comes from a deep-seated need to prove that they're smarter than the rest of the planet....yeah. I think we just got our first lead." He tapped the intercom. "Call Kellaway, get him in here now."

Kellaway looked at David as they rode the helicopter at breakneck speed towards Beverly Hills. "Okay, hotshot, why are we all rushing to Haylie Straw's house?"

David held up the three letters, all copied onto transparency paper. "The perp sent us a warning for the two successive murders."

"Those were poems sent from different addresses, different handwriting. They're clean."

"Not quite. If you examine the letters a little more closely, all of them have different handwriting for the letters...but the handwriting's the same on the signature. Look at the names. Jason Rathbone, Arthur Indias, Carl Praetorius."

One of the rookies in the back of the helicopter caught it. "They're all actors who've played villains in movies. Rathbone played Moriarty, Indias played Fu Manchu and Praetorius played Mr. Big." Everyone turned to look at the rookie.

The rookie shrugged, blushing slightly. "I took Theatre in college."

"Okay, genius," Kellaway said to David, "but apart from the names, which could be a coincidence..."

"Take the first poem." He placed one of the transparencies on a projector. "If you take the third letter after every comma and every second letter at the start of every line..." David took a marker and singled out the letters, spelling a name: Mary-Jericha Jones. It also spelled out a body part: Lungs. "The second victim had her lungs removed, right?"

"Holy shit..." said the officer to David's left. Lara smiled as she sat across from David in the passenger cabin; she enjoyed watchin David's mind at work.

"Now look at the second letter found at the second murder. This time, as you can see..." David put up the second transparency, already marked, "...the code spells out: 'Brittany Pierson, Liver'." He turned back to the other policemen assembled there. "And then there's the third letter. As soon a I decoded it, I called you." He handed it to Kellaway, who spelled out the marked letters: "Haylie Straw, Heart." "Why Haylie Straw?"

"I can only guess, based on the motivations of our perp, that he was unhappy with some of Haylie's roles as an actress since she earned the Oscar. In the next few roles, as I recall, she played characters who were a little 'randy', to put it nicely. And since our boy looks down on that sort of thing..."

"Christ...the press'll have a field day with this."

"Not if we stop him," Lara said levelly. "What was the last contact anyone had with Ms. Straw?"

"Her publicist said she was seen leaving a party just over an hour ago, heading for home. Our ETA is twelve minutes."

"Let's hope she's got good security." David looked out the window at the lights of Hollywood below. As he did, Lara looked at David with concern. It was easy for her to see that this case was becoming personal for him. She knew how he acted when things got personal for him and hoped he'd be able to stay objective.

"Car's in the garage..." David put his hand on the hood, drawing it away quickly. "Engine's hot."

Kellaway nodded. "Alright Connors, Croft, both of you back off. We'll take it from here and we'll do the talking."

David nodded with a roll of his eyes. "Of course. You've got a shot at Police Commissioner to think about."

Kellaway shot David a dirty look and headed for the door, a squad of men on his heels. David and Lara followed behind, but not too close behind. Kellaway walked to the door and knocked loudly. "Ms. Straw, it's the police!!" he yelled. "This is an emergency!!"

No answer, not even from a servant. Kellaway pounded on the door. "MS. STRAW!"

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Lara took a running jump and leaped up to the second-floor window, climbing in and looking around. She walked through the bedroom quickly and looked down the hallway.

Down in the courtyard, Kellawa swore and looked at David. "If she disturbs evidence I'll have you both shipped back to England in boxes!" He spun back towards the door as it opened, revealing the pale face of Lara Croft. "What's going on?"

"It's bad..." Lara Croft said hollowly. The police rushed in and David followed behind, looking at Lara with worry.

"Lara, what's wrong?"

"Don't go up there, Dave."

Lara's tone was scaring him. "I have to, Lara, it's a crime scene."

"Dave, _please_..."

David looked at her, then headed upstairs. He passed two small groups of policemen kneeling next to a maid and a butler, both prone and unmoving. He stopped at the master bedroom and looked inside.

It was a bloodbath, literally.

The entire room was spattered with blood, thick red liquid dripping down from the walls and the furniture. Kellaway stood amid the gore, plastic booties protecting his shoes, as well as the other feet in the room. The blood-soaked carpet made _squelching_ noises as he walked around to a section of wall that didn't have a uniform coat of blood on it. Instead of a thin layer of blood, there were letters, words written in blood on the vanity mirror:

_**LARA CROFT, YOU'RE NEXT.**_

David stared at the message, then turned to Kellaway. The lieutenant wasn't angry anymore, at least not at Lara.

"Scour this room...there's has to be some kind of clue. Every object gets catalogued." Kellaway turned to David. "You better get out of here. This place is going to be a media frenzy all too quickly. I'll call you both when we clear the crime scene."

David didn't answer. He turned and walked out of the room to find Lara standing there, still pale, but trying not to look alarmed. David knew she was, however.

Somewhere, out in the darkness, there was an invisible enemy who seemed to attack and murder without fear or obstruction, and could disappear without a trace...and who knew Lara was in town within a day of her arrival.

"Come on, Lara...let's get some sleep," he said comfortingly. He knew, unfortunately, that neither of them would be sleeping well that night.

Ten minutes after they left, one of the detectives, a woman named Jo Morelli, saw something under the comatose form of the butler. She rolled the body over slightly, revealing a slim metal object. She picked it up to get a better look at it.

As she touched it, her eyes went glassy for a few seconds, then turned back to normal. Her lips curled into a vicious smile, so vicious and wide that it hurt to wear it.

"Jo?"

Jo turned back, a neutral expression on her face. "Yeah?"

"Find anything?" Kellaway asked.

Jo shook her head. "Nothing so far."

"Alright, let me know if you find a lead." Kellaway walked off to the main part of the house as the medical examiners arrived.

Jo nodded, then slipped the scalpel under her sleeve when she was sure no one was looking. She then stood up, heading downstairs. She passed Kellaway and said idly, "I'll check the garage, see if I can find anything."

"Good. Let Griggs know."

"You got it." Jo walked through the hall to the kitchen, then towards the garage. Just outside in th garage, hidden among some clothes boxes and tools sat a small cooler. She opened it up and looked inside.

Jo smiled as she regarded the still warm heart within the cooler. "_There you are...not too much longer. Then the fun can really begin._"

She closed it and walked to her patrol car. She realized there was much to do before the night was over, and she was more than prepared for it.

She was, to coin a phrase, crazy for it...

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	24. The Unkindest Cut, Part II: Splitting He

**The Unkindest Cut, Part II: Splitting Heirs**

**By C. Mage**

David got into the car and waited for Lara to get in as well. As soon as the door was closed, David turned to look at Lara. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"I saw you in there. You were as white as a sheet. I've never seen you that scared before. So what's the deal?"

Lara was silent for a long while.

"I'm not starting this car until we get this hashed out."

Lara sighed. "David...have you ever had a phobia?"

"A phobia?"

"I believe Webster calls it, 'an unreasoning, uncontrollable fear without logical cause'. It means that if you are phobic about something, there is no way in Heaven you'll share space with the subject of that fear. Do you understand?"

"You're telling me you have a phobia about blood-covered rooms? You didn't even see it when you stopped in the hallway."

"Not the room...it's...it's a feeling I got about that room. There was something in there, something unspeakable, truly evil happened there and it affected me on a primal level. Don't look at me like that, Dave, I don't know how else to describe it." Lara looked at him stubbornly. "All I know is that just walking close to that place gave me a feling of dread and fear I could no more deny than I could recognize."

"This is getting wierder. What could cause something like that?"

"...some sort of evil spirit. A ghost, a demon..." Lara's eyes widened slightly. "...I've got it. I know what's doing this."

"Well, don't keep me in suspense. What is it?"

"A wraith."

"What's a wraith?"

"It's a type of spirit, like a ghost, only instead of haunting a place, it haunts an object. Something it was close to, perhaps even bound to in life. But to cause this kind of sensation in living people, this wraith must've been evil, monstrous."

"Never heard of something like this before."

"They're extremely rare. Last documented sighting of such an entity was in 1501 AD, in Austria. It caused the deaths of several people before it was exorcised."

"Well, how was it driven away?"

"The article responsible, a crystal goblet, was smashed and the pieces burned."

"Solutions at last. That's why they couldn't find the murder weapon. Whoever picked it up was..." David stopped, then picked up his cellphone, dialing a number.

"Something wrong?"

"A hunch. Hey, Kellaway, Connors here. Look, did anyone report to the evidence locker in the last hour? Okay...yeah. Check the sign-in log and see if they made it. I'll hold."

"You think one of the police officers found something?"

"Maybe...if so, God help 'em." David waited, then frowned. "Contact her, find out where she is. Why? I'll tell you why. She's got the murder weapon!"

Jo Morelli was in hell.

Her body was working on its own, but the part of her mind that was still rational was a prisoner in her own brain. Even though she had no physical form, she was being tortured mercilessly. If she'd been able to scream, she'd have shrieked in mortal pain until her vocal cords gave out. She was only barely coherent as she felt the pain, a thousand swords silicing her apart, piece by piece.

It knew her memories, from the distant touch of her fingers clutching at her mother's hand as a newborn until the moment she'd picked up the scalpel and the force roared into her body like a tidal wave. She'd considered herself a strong-willed woman, but her resolve only took a split-second in the physical world. In her mind, she'd resisted for what seemed like days, but in the end, it uncovered her secrets, took control of her body, used every mistake, every memory of failure against her and defeated her.

And now it was torturing her, slowly shredding her psyche. When it first began, she asked, begged to know what it wanted. After a time, she would've given up anything, her young son, her mother, anything to make the pain stop.

She was rewarded only with, "I HAVE WHAT I NEED ALREADY. NOW, ALL I WANT FROM YOU, WHORE, IS TO HEAR YOU SUFFER A WHORE'S FATE. DAMNATION AND ETERNAL PUNISHMENT FOR YOUR SLUTTISH WAYS."

She was only barely aware of what was going on around her. Jo's face bore flowing tears that dripped down her cheeks and over the insidious grin she also wore. The Thing wiped her face, picking up a box and addressing it to 2388 South Maple Drive in Manhattan. Once the package was mailed, the influence that controlled her was gone, but the commands placed into her brain endured. Her mind was too discorporated to resist the suggestions. All her conscious mind could do was beg for mercy and death, to be released from her pain.

When her squad car drove off the bridge into the water, only then did relief and death come to her.

David sighed. "When?" He rubbed his eyes as Lara looked over at him. They'd both been up for hours, waiting for the word on Officer Morelli's whereabouts. "Alright. Have an autopsy done on her as soon as the M.E. can manage it." He hung up the phone. "They found her. She drove off a drawbridge, jumped the barrier. She must've been going sixty. Five bucks say she's got the same kind of brain damage."

"Any sign of the murder weapon?"

"None. It's like this thing is laughing at us. It just reaches out and butchers people, using other people as its tools, then just manages to vanish." David walked up to a large map and looked at the local attacks. "Here, here and here. Another in a different city altogether, just days away from the murders here." He looked at the map, then sighed. "Lara, hand me those files over there."

"Not to be a pain, Dave, but haven't we gone over those files ten times already?"

"Then we go over them again. Call down to the M.E. and have them go over the bodies again. There's something we're missing." David looked over at Lara. "Sorry this trip to the States isn't exactly relaxing."

"Don't worry about it, Dave. Besides, compared to my thesis at Oxford, this is a vacation." She smiled, but David knew she was getting tired. "I'll be fine."

"Alright...but if you need a break, there's some vending machines down by the mail room. Hope you like synthetic sweets."

"Mail room...David, that's it!!"

"What?"

"I've just had an epiphany. Show me where the bodies were found once again on the map." She looked over the map, then went over the crime scene photos, then the inventories of the crime scenes. "Dave, this may be a long shot, but I think I know why the murder weapon was never found. Our murderers, the ones found with brain damage...they mailed the weapon to the next target. Here, look. What do all the inventories have in common?"

David spotted it after ten seconds. "One (1) fresh roll of packing tape."

"Here's what I think happened. The weapon is mailed to someone close to the target. They pick it up and as soon as they touch it, the wraith possesses their bodies, subjugating the existing conscousness and replacing it with its own. It gets closer to the target. If someone gets in the way, all the possessed person has to do is touch the obstacle and the wraith subjugates the obstacle, turning it into an ally."

"Wait a second. If it possesses one, how can it do the same to more than one person?"

"Remember the CAT-scans. It must be re-writing the minds of those it possesses to make them them more compliant."

"But mail?"

"Look at the map and the time between murders. They coincide almost perfectly with the amount of time it takes for a small box to be mailed from place to place."

Dave nodded. "Still pretty thin, but I can't think of anything else that would make sense. The question is, what do we do with this information?"

"We follow the route. When does mail pickup happen during the day?"

"Usually about nine."

"We've got time. Tell Kellaway we need to check out every mailbox along her route, call the Post Office and tell them to suspend service for a few hours."

"He's not going to be happy about this." David smiled. "I can't wait to tell him."

"Anything yet?" David asked.

Kellaway shook his head. "Nothing. Are you sure about this?"

David looked up at the sky, Lara sitting next to him on the park bench. "I hope so."

"I've got fifty men checking every mailbox from here to Kookamunga, not to mention waking up a judge to get a search warrant. This had better pan out." He picked up the radio and barked into it, "Talk to me."

The radio chattered at him and he sighed. "The mayor's going to run me through a wood chipper for this, I just know..."

Suddenly, a voice came onto his radio, talking nonsense. He put the radio to his ear. "What is it, Carl?" He waited, then nodded, turning to David and Lara. "I think we've got a winner. Mailbox near the community center came up with a box. They're pulling it right now."

"Lieutenant, I cannot impress upon you enough the importance of not unwrapping that box."

"Don't worry. My boys are professionals. Let's go." He went to the car and got into the driver's seat smoothly. Lara gave David an exasperated look silently professing her distaste for Kellaway's cavalier attitude, then got into the shotgun seat. David sighed and followed suit, getting into the back seat. "They're bringing it to the station."

"Are you sure that's the one?" David asked.

"My boys checked every mailbox on your route. That one's the only package they found and they checked them all. Unless the victims were all killed with paper cuts, that narrows it down a lot, don't it?"

"Look, Lieutenant, don't underestimate the intelligence behind these murders. You don't know what you're dealing with."

"Trust me, Mr. Connors, I know exactly what I'm dealing with." Kellaway smiled triumphantly.

Lara Croft carefully opened the box at the forensic lab. The Bomb Squad had already gone over the box and reported no chemical or mechanical devices that would indicate explosives. Lara, however, treated the box as if it was a bomb that might go off at any moment. She opened it slowly and revealed packing foam peanuts within. Carefully removed the foam, handful by handful, she saw the glint of metal underneath. "I've got something here..." She took a set of forceps and reached down, removing the object and holding it up.

The object was an old-fashioned metal doctor's scalpel. It gleamed in the light, looking brand new, but the style of it suggested something made in the 1800's. "Ladies and gentlemen, I believe I have your murder weapon here. Now listen to me very carefully. It is my assessment that this object has been treated with a compound that causes psychosis upon contact with flesh and absorbed into thr bloodstream. This compound has shown traits that suggest that rubber gloves might be insufficient protection against the compound, so do not handle it with anything less than forceps or any sort of mechanical gripping device. Have I made myself crystal clear?" She looked at the lab technicians and they nodded, looking at the scalpel with new respect. "Good. Run a full battery of tests, metallurgical, chemical, everything you can, in addition to the usual tests."

Lara stood up and walked out of the lab, taking off her gloves and mask. As she walked over to Kellaway, he shook his head. "If you weren't footing the bill for this, Ms. Croft, I'd have laughed you out of town. What do you think you're going to find?"

"Proof that this is what I think it is."

"And what do you think it is?"

Lara looked into Kellaway's eyes. "Are you ready to accept the impossible?"

"I'd love to hear anything that would make any sense out of this crime spree."

"Let's go to your office. This is something I would rather not have leaked to the press. Where's David?"

"He's out getting some Chinese food. I recommended this place down on 103rd." They walked down to his office and he opened the door for her. "Want some tea?"

"You drink tea? I'm impressed. I figured you all for barbarians." Lara chuckled.

"Made it especially for you. David told me you liked Earl Grey. Have a seat."

As Lara did so, she looked around the room. The office was decently-furnished, most of the furnture made of equal parts metal and formica. One of the items that caught her eye was a three-drawer file cabinet, apparently brand new. "More space?" she inquired as Kellaway poured her a cup.

"One thing you can say about this city. We never run out of idiots. Alright, Ms. Croft. I'm all ears."

"Lieutenant Kellaway, I'm convinced that the object in that lab is none other than the same weapon used by the notorious 'Jack the Rippper'."

"You're kidding me. Some guys is using that antique to kill people?"

"No. I think the scalpel is using them."

Kellaway leaned back in his chair. "What are you talking about?"

"I think that instrument is cursed, cursed by the evil of the man who killed who-knows-how many women just before the turn of the century. The facts indicated many of the same patterns, the same motivations. I believe that the scalpel is possessed by the evil that caused those murders. Every time someone picks it up, the entity within possesses that person to commit unspeakable deeds."

"For what purpose? Random violence?"

"No...there's some...purpose to it all." Lara rubbed her head as her vision swam for a moment. "Some plan...I beg your pardon, I may have been up for too long." She started to get up, then sat back down again, her limbs refusing to obey her. "What...?"

"**You're so right, Lady Croft...there is, indeed, a grand purpose. And thanks to you, I can complete it.**" Kellaway's voice took on a deeper tone as he walked over to her, picking up the dropped cup of tea and put it aside. "**Now then, Lady Croft...listen to me very carefully. Listen to the sound of my voice. There's something you have to do for me...**"

"...do...for you...."

"**Yes...you will follow my instructions to the letter. If you do so, you will see David again very soon. You want that very much, don't you?**"

Lara smiled in her stupor. "...see David...soon..."

"**Now listen...and listen carefully...**"

Lara blinked and looked up. "Pardon me, Lieutenant...I must've dozed off. I..." She thought for a few moments, then it came to her. "Oh, yes, I was just finishing my tale, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, and I still don't buy it. You said you had some proof, didn't you?"

"Yes...of course. I'll go get it."

"I have to head out to take care of some business. Meet me later."

"Of course." Lara smiled and stood up. "David can sleep at the hotel for a while, he sleeps like a brick, you know. I'm sure he won't mind if I see him later when he gets up."

"Perfect. Then I'll see you in an hour or so?"

"Yes." Lara smiled. "If you'll excuse me?" She turned and politely left the office, not feeling as tired as she had before. _He must've let me doze for a while...nearly an hour's gone by._ Lara didn't see anything odd about that.

Nothing odd about that at all.

Kellaway smiled as he opened a drawer and took out a cigar box. He opened it, then dumped out the cigars and pulled up the false bottom. There, lying on a bed of velvet, sat a scalpel.

He picked it up and felt its power, then smiled. Tonight was the night...and it was the perfect night for a rebirth...and a very special evening meal.

After all….an old family friend was coming for dinner.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	25. The Unkindest Cut, Part III: Old Habits

**The Unkindest Cut, Part III: Old Habits Die Hard**

**By C. Mage**

David Connors got out of the car and looked at the name of the Chinese restaurant Kellaway had pointed him to: the Night Heron. He smelled the food cooking inside and his stomach growled. _Now this is what I'm talking about._ He walked inside and looked around. The interior was extremely traditional in its décor, up to and including the menu. Fortunately, part of David's studies from Lara included lessons in Chinese, both Cantonese and Mandarin. As he read over the menu, he noticed that there was no line and no other customers. He checked his watch.

Though the woman at the cashier smiled as she prepared to take his order, David began to feel that old familiar feeling. The kind of feeling he got when he knew something was not right. Maybe it was that there were no customers at an hour normally associated with people coming home from work and picking up take-out. Maybe it was the two men who mopped the floor whose eyes fell more on him than on the floor. Or maybe he'd just been hanging out with Lara for too long and expected things to jump out at him.

One thing was certain. Something was seriously not right.

David kept the dumb-American smile on his face. "Yeah, uh…you got a menu in English I can look at?"

The woman looked at him and said cheerfully in Chinese, "You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?"

David shook his head. "Sorry, I don't speak Chinese," he said in English.

"We going to kill you, foreigner. We going to skin you and hang you up like the chickens," she continued in Chinese, nodding and smiling.

"Uhm…I'm sorry, maybe, uh…" David looked to his sides, then pointed up at the menu. "Which one of those is sweet & sour pork?"

"You really are stupid, aren't you?" the woman chuckled, laughing and smiling as the two men drew the handles out of the mops, revealing the sharpened spikes.

David started laughing a little, then looked up and caught a glimpse of movement in the partially reflective plexiglass protecting the menu. He nodded, then spun around quickly, reaching out for the spear that came at his neck. He grasped it and pulled, causing the wielder to overcompensate and fall forward. As he tried to recover, David rammed the blunt end of the handle down like a pile driver, banging the man's forehead against the floor. David was already moving, the second spear stabbing at his throat and missing as David arched his back, then spun around. His spear sliced across the man's forehead, distracting him with pain and blood flowing from the cut just above his eyebrows. As the second man pulled back from the pain, David looked to the first assassin. He hadn't been knocked senseless and he was trying to get away from David, regroup, but a swift, hard kick from David's steel-toed cowboy boot took him out nice and pretty.

David looked up to see the second assassin draw back, pulling out two short blades. The killer smiled, then the blood hit his eyes, blinding him. He grimaced, then felt a strange sensation in his forehead. He'd never felt anything like it, then didn't feel anything at all.

The woman behind the counter raised her head, seeing the second assassin lying on his back, the long handle attached to his forehead, and David with a Desert Eagle .50 AE pointed at her left eye. "Now then," David said in flawless Mandarin, "unless you have a reputation for murdering your patrons, which I doubt, someone put you up to this. Give me a name."

"I can't! He'll kill me if I tell you," she said, the arrogance gone from her voice.

David shook his head. "Don't worry about him…worry about _me_," he said, pulling back the hammer of the Desert Eagle. "I'm going to give you until the count of ten. If I don't hear the name…and I'll know if it's the right one…you are going to have to explain to your ancestors why you're dead. And family reunions can be Hell."

She looked into his eyes. "Are you going to kill him?"

"Who is he?!"

The woman looked David in the eyes. "You can't kill him. He's in league with the Devil." Then she stiffened and fell, the knife she'd placed into her own chest standing erect like the spear imbedded in the second assassin's head.

David looked at her, not liking the idea of someone who could inspire suicidal tendencies over betrayal. He walked out of the restaurant, then stopped and walked back in, flipping the "OPEN" sign over to show "CLOSED", then heading back to his car as casually as he could. _What the hell is going on? Why did Kellaway…?_"

Then it hit him. The answer to it all was staring him in the face.

"Holy CRAP!"

Lara got out of the car at the address Kellaway had given her, holding the files from the precinct. She'd made sure to keep the files complete. After all, it wouldn't do for the files to leak to the press. It didn't occur to her how that might happen, but Kellaway was a police officer. He knew better than she did about how that might happen.

Deep in the back of her mind was a nagging feeling. It made her frown as she walked up to the door of the building. _Why did he ask me to come here? This isn't exactly the best part of town. Is he showing me a crime scene? _Lara considered calling David to ask his advice, but something kept her from doing that. It was as if something was telling her to put it out of her head, wait until later. However, Lara felt more and more worried as she opened the door. She walked into the building and looked around her. At first, she thought she'd entered an apartment complex, but as she walked towards the light ahead, she realized she was in some sort of factory. An alarm went off in her head and she slowed, but a voice came from everywhere, instructing her, "**place the files on the table…sit down in the chair…let's talk…like civilized people…**"

As she sat down, her voice became strained. "Kellaway…"

Kellaway came into view, wearing a leather smock over his clothes, smiling. "**I'm sure you're wondering why I've called you here this evening.**"

"What game are you playing at? What are you doing here?"

"**Funny you should ask. Tell me, Lady Croft, about your family history. More to the point, what James Croft III was around the year 1899.**"

"What has that got to do with anything?"

"**Oh, it has everything to do with this. Your father never mentioned his great-grandfather's favored vocation, did he? James Croft was no captain of industry, no dilettante. He was a pugilist, a boxer, one of the most primitive kinds of men. Not satisfied with entering a ring and having his face beat into a barely recognizable mass, he often 'trained' against criminals on the streets of London. That's right, Lady Croft. Some nobility.**" He walked a few steps closer to the edge of the table. "**Let me tell you about a very special night…December 17th, 1899. Gloriously chill, it made me feel truly alive, particularly since I'd only existed as a minor imp until the night Zachary Kellaway and I found each other. On the eve of the new century, I was to dine like never before upon the trophies of my kills. Oh, the care I'd taken to make sure everything was absolutely perfect. Organs of only the right size and texture, kept intact and ready for a feast not soon forgotten. I was ready to receive the very last part…dessert…when I came upon a lovely young woman. Dressed as they all did on the street, ready to give themselves to whoever or whatever passed them by. I invited her to my house, paid her enough to calm and allay her fears, was ready to take her when _he_ appeared. He came along, just when I was overpowering the little bitch. He thought me a simple rapist. ME! Why would I even touch one of those filthy little tramps...**"

"Perhaps to dine on their flesh like a vulture?" Lara offered in a parody of helpfulness.

"**He walked towards me, and I thought, 'I had the strength of ten men. This little worm poses no threat to me.' So I tossed the limp body aside and rushed for him. So, there I was, facing down a single, unarmed man. Male blood is so distasteful, so I decided to make an example of him, drawing my pistol and pointed it at him. I was prepared to send him to the afterlife when fate dealt me a mortal blow.**" He grimaced at her, and Lara guessed the rest.****

"Let me guess: he saw you menacing some poor woman, came to her rescue and thrashed you within an inch of your miserable existence."

Kellaway looked at her with a baleful gaze. "**You'll pay for that smug satisfaction, Lady. His brutish attack ended me, but while he was taking the young woman back to her home, my life was bleeding away, but the force that drove me sustained me long enough to escape to my home. Through force of will alone, I called upon the darkness to sustain me and to take my revenge. When my strength left me, I fell and the darkness claimed me...and imbued my instrument with my lifeforce.**"

"Good for James," Lara said, looking around surreptitiously for a means of escape, hoping to keep Kellaway angry just long enough to give her an opportunity.

"**Oh, it was very good for him, the lug. Tell me, do you remember the name of James' wife?**"

"Of course. It was..."

Kellaway held up a hand. "**Let me take...a stab in the dark.**" He smiled at his little joke. "**Jolene?**"

"How did you know that?"

"**My, my...a family secret. Jolene was the name of the prostitute James rescued.**" Kellaway smiled at Lara's surprise. "**I'm sure it would not have endeared him to the family if others knew the third son of the wealthy and prestigious Croft line soiled their genetics with a common slut.**"

"That still doesn't mean..."

"**Hush, girl. You'll spoil the ending...but then, I suppose you're not comfortable knowing your ancestor spread her legs for half of London.**" He wheeled over a gurney with a series of surgical tools, syringes with various chemicals, sutures and various pans. "**My body was found, and it was assumed that I had been attacked in my home. No one dug under the garden to see my other victims. And so my belongings were sent to curio shops and other places, scattered...and I had years to regain my strength and plan my revenge. I gained in power, my fury without measure. I sensed time passing, and then, one day, I came into the hands of someone very important to me. Curious to know what my original name was, Lady?**" He stood in front of her, looking down at her. "**Dr. Zachary...Kellaway.**"

Lara didn't answer, looking up at Kellaway accusingly.

"**I was found by a child looking through a lot where my place used to stand, burned flat by a fire. He found the knife where it had fallen. His seven-year old mind was no match for my superior will and intellect, and the line that continued on as I slept opened its arms to receive me once again. I easily molded his mind to suit me, and I used my knowledge of the world to have him excel in classes. I bided my time, waiting for the righ moment. You cannot imagine the will it took as I watched the female members of the human race degenerate into the basest of creatures, rutting like pigs, dressing in shameful clothing. But my mind is superior, Lady Croft. And soon, so will my body. I learned much as a doctor when my original body was alive. Thanks to the advances made in my absence and the resources made available to me, not to mention the knowledge from other great men who so generously offered me their knowledge, I was able to perfect my greatest works.**" He picked up a tray of syringes, each one with a different color fluid within.

Lara stared at the needles. "What are those? Drugs to keep me compliant?"

Kellaway smiled. "**You don't understand, but then how could you?**" He tapped his head. "**Inside this skull lies the mind of a super-genius. Witness medical miracles in action.**" He picked up one with red fluid within. "**This chemical will enable your brain to stay alive for days without requiring blood or other nutrients. Quite the cure for many mental diseases caused by decrepitude. The blue one will slow your body's processes. Once I remove your organs, it'll ensure the shock doesn't kill you. The green one increases the response time of your nervous system, giving you the chance to experience ten times the pain of what you'd normally experience without it. It would also increase your reflexes. Think what any athlete would pay for such a concoction, not to mention those with nervous disorders. The orange one will paralyze your motor functions, relaxing you, but make you completely aware of what's happening to you. Finally, this one…**" He held up a syringe filled with a golden liquid. "**This one will endow you with telepathic abilities. It will enable me to mentally watch your responses, even tailor them. After all, you won't be able to scream.**"

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"**Simplicity itself…I want you to know what worth these formulae would have in the world you know. I want you to know because I want you to be aware when your beloved David shows up. Simply taking you apart and dining upon you is not enough. These chemical compounds, properly marketed, would put an end to countless diseases, as well as the knowledge contained inside my notes. Not to mention the fact that the one who owned those notes would be rich enough to make Bill Gates and Donald Trump look like a pair of paupers. The height of my revenge will be watching your lover have to choose between saving countless millions and becoming a _trillionaire_…or saving you.**"

"He MMMMMMPH!!" Lara said as Kellaway pushed a leather ball-gag into her open mouth, strapping it in place.

"**He should be here any moment now. Try not to look too disappointed, Lara. You were destined to lose long before you were even born.**" Kellaway stood up and walked over to a line of monitors, using them to view the world around him. "**Now, then, David Connors…where are you?**"

David stopped outside the factory and looked around. He knew he was being watched as soon as he drove up the street. He could feel it. He also knew that Lara was here and what was at stake. He checked his Desert Eagle, then holstered it and walked inside. The factory gave him the creeps, reminding him far too much of a certain video game he'd played before. _This is what I get for playing DOOM 3._ He shook his head and moved inside.

The path leading to the center of the factory led past active machinery, hissing hydraulics, even a smelter idling with molten metal bubbling inside. "Geez, Kellaway…Dr. Frankenstein called, he wants his lab back…"

He turned a corner and there she was. Lara was strapped down on an operating table, a sheet covering her body, a ball-gag in her mouth. She looked up as David came into view and shook her head.

"LARA! Hang on, I'll get you out of there!"

"**I don't think so, Mr. Connors!**" David stopped as he saw Kellaway standing on a high platform, pointing a gun down at Lara. "**I advise you to drop your gun, David. Can I call you David?**"

"Only if I get to call you 'Jack'…" He considered going for his gun.

"**Well, well…how smart you are. But not smart enough, Mr. Connors. The only reason you have found yourself here is because I led you here. If I desired, you wouldn't have the slightest clue where to find me or Lara.**"

"Don't bother blowing your own horn, Jack. I knew where to find you without you spreading clues all over the damn place. Of course, none of them believed me when I told them."

"**Of course not. All the clues I left were merely circumstantial, not nearly enough to convince the city's finest I was the one they'd been looking for all this time. Idiots…but then, all are morons compared to me.**" He pressed a button and the platform descended. "**Now drop the gun. Left hand, thumb and forefinger.**"

David fumed, but complied. "You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

"**Implicitly. Kick it over to me. I may want my revenge, but I want to survive more, and the Croft family has a lot of relatives.**"

David kicked it over to Jack, his mind whirling.

"**Oh, if you could only see your face, David. You're thinking to yourself, 'How can I get an edge over the man holding a gun on me?' Well, at least that's my interpretation. I'm sure I know exactly what you're thinking, only I won't lower myself to say the word, 'duhhh' every five words.**" Jack smiled.

"So, Jack…you ever get tired of being a pompous ass?"

"**If you mean, 'superior being' when you say 'pompous ass,' then no, I don't. Now before your brain implodes from the wasted effort of trying to outsmart me, let me offer you a way out even your dim mind can understand.**" He walked over to a desk and removed a tarp, revealing a disc wallet. "**Do you see this? This wallet contains ten DVD discs loaded with my notes, my research, everything I've complied in my years as a doctor. Encoded on these discs lie the cures and remedies for almost every single serious malady that exists. I even,**" he added with a satisfied grin, "**have the cure for the AIDS virus.**"

"You're bluffing."

"**I'm quite serious. I don't bluff, David Connors. Bluffing would imply an attempt to outsmart you by trickery…and that would be like sandblasting a deviled egg. Every thing I have told you is the truth. I stake my reputation as a doctor upon it.**"

"So what's your point?"

"**So simple, even you can figure it out. You can take those discs and use them to become so wealthy, there won't be a single desire you will be unable to fulfill. Angry with customer service at a retail store? Buy it and fire everyone. No woman, no fantasy will be beyond your grasp. Some actress or model catch your eye? The formula that will turn her into your slave for as long as you wish is also included on those discs. Perhaps you'd like to retire and buy a little island somewhere? Check with the President…maybe he'll sell you Hawaii. Millions upon millions will praise your name for ridding the world of disease, call you a saint, a leader, a god…**"

"What's the catch?"

"**Ah…right to the point. I admire that. Here's the catch: all you need to do to earn this greatest of treasures is to take those discs and walk out of here right now. Don't look back. Leave Lara to me. Think about it. You look at this as if it was a crime. It's a sacrifice. For the greater good, some people must die. It happens every single day. Think of it. To save the masses, you won't have to sacrifice hundreds, tens or even a few people. All that will die is one person. Lara. And what greater love could there be to give their life so others can live? Surely you can see the benefit of this bargain.**"

"And if I tell you to shove it?"

"**I was hoping you wouldn't ask. Those discs are sitting on top of an explosive charge. My other hand is pressing a switch on a remote. I let go of the remote for any reason, and the discs will be reduced to a fine cloud of powder in an instant. Plus, treachery will be met with serious repercussions, as I am armed…with your gun.**" He smiled and picked up the Desert Eagle. "**I always wondered why you'd need a gun this size. Trying to compensate for something?**"

"Yeah. Too many maniacs. What makes you think I haven't called the police on you?"

"**This body's reputation as a fine, upstanding officer is beyond reproach, thanks to careful planning. There isn't a judge in the city who'd issue a warrant for me, nor a single policeman who'd set you up with a wire. And if you think you could simply pick up a police radio and set it to transmit what I'm saying, I took the precaution of wiring the area to defeat radio transmissions. Face it, David Connors. I thought of everything. I always do. But why talk of such things? Look before you. The brass ring, or should I say diamond ring, is there, waiting for you to seize it. And I give you my word that should you choose to leave Lara with me, you will indeed prosper, rich beyond the dreams of avarice. You really don't have a choice, you know. And even your dim mind must realize that there is no other way out and no way to implicate me in any of this.**"

David looked at him, then over at Lara. His face grew hard as he looked back at Jack. "Before I choose, there's a couple of things I want to know."

"**Ask quickly. I begin to tire of our conversation.**"

"Does everything in this factory still work?"

"**Yes, they do. Why do you ask?**"

"Just curious. Also, I want to see it."

"**To see the machinery work?**"

"No. I want to see the scalpel of Jack the Ripper."

Jack smiled. "**Ahhhh****…very well. No tricks, David, you might be able to dodge, but Lara isn't.**" He took out the scalpel and held it up. "**What do you think?**"

"As I suspected."

"**What do you mean?**"

"Doesn't look like much."

Jack smiled and walked closer to him, gun pointed at his face. He put the scalpel along with the other tools for dissection and looked David in the eye. "**Only those unintelligent enough to look only at its appearance would say something like that. Now, I have answered you. Now answer me. What is your decision?**"

"Well, Jacko, before I answer, I have a confession to make."

"**A confession?**"

"Yeah…I'm afraid I've been a bad boy. Remember your car?"

"**Don't play games with me, David Connors. My car isn't here. I used a rental car to come here.**"

"I know. Pretty clever, covering your tracks by not using your car. But it is here. I brought it here."

"**Brought it? How? I have the keys.**" His irritation was becoming more and more pronounced.

"Well, you see, that's the thing…"

Suddenly, flashing lights came through the windows of the factory. Jack looked around, then back at David. "**That's impossible! You couldn't have convinced them I was the culprit! There's no way you could get them here!**"

"Well….not _legally._" David smiled. "They're not here for you. They're here for me. You see…I stole your car. Did a little reckless driving. Crashed up a police cruiser or two." David smiled. "In fact, any second now, about twenty cops are going to come storming in here, looking for me…but imagine what they'll find…"

Jack looked at David as realization dawned. David had outwitted him! "**You'd risk the lives of countless millions and the wealth of billions for one person? You must be stupider than I thought!**"

"You're surrounded, Jack. Give it up. Maybe there'll be a place for you in the Home for the Criminally Insane…"

Jack's face went from bewildered to hostile in a second and he pulled the trigger on the Desert Eagle, which let out with a thunderous….CLICK. Jack blinked.

David held up the clip. "You said to drop the gun. Nothing was said about the ammo. If I want to hang on to my role as defender of the people, I have to do what you always claim you do. Think fast."

"**Very well, David Connors. You win this round. But rest assured, the wrath of Jack the Ripper will not be easily quenched.**" He looked to his left and tossed the gun into one of the smelters, then dropped the remote in his other hand. The discs went up in a large magnesium fireball. "**You'll regret this decision for the rest of your pitiful little life, your chance at immortality ruined forever.**"

David groaned audibly. "The only thing I regret is you destroying my gun. Do you have any idea how tough it is to get one of those blued just right?" Jack wasn't listening, however, already planning on how to make his entrance. He backed away, knowing that unless he timed it perfectly, he'd have to explain how he got to this location so quickly. He turned away and took a few steps, then stopped as he realized that the scalpel was not in his possession. Jack turned back to find David unbuckling Lara from the restraints. "Hang on, Lara, I'll have you out of there in a jiff…"

Lara was making noises as she looked at David, then pulled the ball-gag from her mouth as soon as a hand was free. "David, LOOK OUT!!"

David looked up and saw Jack grabbing the scalpel. "Oh no…you're not getting away this time!" David took off in hot pursuit as Lara freed herself, then shook her head. As he mind cleared of the effects of the drugs, she looked up towards the ceiling.

Lara smiled. "Dave, keep him from getting out through the south doors!"

"Why?"

"Trust me, Dave, you don't have a monopoly on quick thinking! Just do it!"

Jack's mind went into high gear. He was perplexed at how he could've missed that contingency, that he'd only considered legal means of pursuit. _Recriminations will have to wait. If I don't escape, the scalpel will be removed and my façade will be shattered. I can still manage to get the scalpel back…after all, all it would take is someone stupid enough to pick it up and I'd have it back in a few days' time. But my revenge would be forestalled until another generation of Kellaway is born. Lara might be safe for now…but we'll see how secure she'll feel when her children are fair game. Who knows? Lara might even have a daughter, I'm sure she's likely been rutting with that Connors brute for some time now…_

He stopped as he saw David in front of the south doors. He was carrying an length of wood just a little larger than a Louisville Slugger. "**And who are you supposed to be?**"

David smiled. He couldn't resist. He looked at Jack with a smile, brandished the wooden cudgel and said in a low voice, "I'm Bat-man."

Jack smiled and spun around, running away towards a set of stairs leading up.

"Come back here, bitch!" David charged after Jack. "I don't wanna hurt you, I just want to see if I can fit this up your ass!"

"**Always the last resort of the primitive. Harsh language.**" Kellaway said snidely as he climbed the stairs and moved across the catwalk. _If I can get him closer to the halfway point, I can try and force him off the catwalk. A few thousand gallons of molten steel should fry that hunk of meat quite nicely._ "**Face it, David…you haven't gotten me yet.**"

"I managed to get the better of you, genius."

"**Even a broken clock is right twice a day, David Connors.**" Jack smiled as he felt the heat to his right. "**You're no real match for me, David Connors. Even with sheer brute force, you still feel you need a weapon to face me.**" Jack turned around and faced David. "**I'm still superior to you, David.**"

David stopped, then tossed the wooden weapon off the catwalk. It fell into the steel, vaporizing upon contact. "Alright, Jack. Let's dance."

Jack smiled. "**Come along, David. It's time to for you to see the doctor. You have a terminal illness, David. It's called life. Fortunately,**" he added as he took out his scalpel, "**I have a sure cure for that.**"

"Yeah? You're real smart, huh?"

"**Smarter than you could possibly dream.**"

"Then tell me something. What happens when you take a wire, wrap it around a piece of iron, then run a charge through it?"

Jack stopped, then looked up. A thick disk hung over his head, ten feet up. He turned to the right to see Lara waving from behind a control panel. Then he heard a loud hum as Lara fired up the electromagnet. The scalpel flew from his grasp and made a small clinking noise as it hit the surface of the magnet. Jack stared right up until the point where David tackled him, sending him sprawling. Jack pulled himself to his feet, watching Lara direct the magnet over one of the smelters. "**You can't do this to me!! Don't you realize who I am?**"

"Yeah. You're Jack the Ripper. And you've been alive for far too long. We're revoking your medical license."

He turned to face David again, his face pleading. "**Wait! Don't do it! I can replace the discs. I still remember the formulae and the calculations. Spare me and you can have greatness once more!**"

"And the people you killed for your twistoid supper…can you replace them?"

"**PLEASE…I'll do anything you ask. Spare my existence! Don't send me to the Pit! I'll be your servant in all things. I'll do whatever you command!**" He watched the magnet stop directly over the smelter and the bubbling steel within it.

"You'll work for me?"

Jack smiled, hearing David's pause. "**Yes. I'll work for you and you alone.**"

"In that case, Jack…you're _fired_." He nodded and the humming stopped.

"**NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**" Jack watched as the scalpel fell into the molten metal, an ice cube dropped into a boiling pot, then dove after it. David moved to the rail of the catwalk as the scalpel plunged into the steel, Jack following close behind. The scalpel actually managed to survive the heat for a few seconds. Jack, however, was not so fortunate. The heat was so intense, his nerves were destroyed faster than they could send the messages of pain to Jack's mind. For him, it was like diving into a swimming pool of cold water. However, soon after the sensations of coolness had ebbed, a fire much fiercer enveloped him, only this time, there were no mortal limitations denying him the full force of the heat…

David walked through the open doors of the Croft mansion with a smile. "MAN, it is good to be home!"

"I am in agreement with you there, David. Besides, the trial was a terrible inconvenience." Lara smiled as one of the butlers came forward with a tray with two drinks, a ginger ale for Lara and lemonade for David.

"It was short enough. I didn't have a radio on me when I went into that factory, but the voice recorder came in handy." He smiled at Lara. "I can't wait to get to bed."

"It was a shame, though, that the scalpel was lost." Lara shook her head, then caught David's look. "What?"

"After all that thing has done…??"

"Its historical significance is beyond value, and as for the discs…I still can't believe you did that. Yes, Dave, I know, I didn't want to become his meal any more than you wanted to let him dine upon me, but….didn't you have any doubts, any reservations?"

"No. It's all back in God's hands, the way it should be. And I'm not God. All Jack thought I wanted was money, power and sex. What a monster like him could never figure out is that there are things more important."

"Well…" Lara smiled coyly, "I am rather rich...I do have some power…and don't tell me you're disappointed in the sex."

"Well…." David held up a hand and shook it noncommittally.

"You!!!" Lara said, outraged. She punched his shoulder hard. "Fine! Just see if I ever wear that Xena outfit for YOU ever again!" She strode off indignantly.

"Come on, Lara, I was only kidding!! Lara?" He walked after her. "It's was a joke!"

"Ha! Bleeding ha!"

David sighed. _Now all I need is a vat of boiling metal for me to dive into. I'm calling the guy on Monday…_


	26. Lara Croft and the Hammer of Thor, Pt 1

**Lara Croft and the Hammer of Thor, Part I: The Death of David Connors**

**By C. Mage**

David woke up with a serious headache.

This was uncommon for two reasons. One, it was a Monday. David never had a reason to drink except for the weekends, and he rarely went on any serious drinking benders unless Lara wasn't home, which was common, and when he missed her, just as common. Second, when he woke up, he awoke in much more cheery surroundings. He started to rub his eyes and sat up.

That's when he realized he wasn't naked. David usually slept in the nude.

_Alright…where did the hospital robes come from? For that matter,_ he added mentally, _where did the hospital come from??_ He looked around at the pastel blue walls, the window looking out over what appeared to be the seashore. The weather outside was bright, but his mood was dark. It was summer in England, which made it rainy and overcast most of the time.

The door opened and a man came in, followed by a nurse. He was not dressed as a doctor, however. He wore a brown leather jacket, a turtleneck gray shirt, slacks and low-quarter shoes. "Well, well. Glad to see you're awake, Mr. Connors."

"Where am I?"

"You had a rather nasty fall, Mr. Connors. Your car took a trip off a bridge. Seems that someone doctored your brakes."

"That's a wonderful story. Except the last thing I remember was going to grab some files from Oxford. I wasn't driving when I blacked out. I was…sitting in the library."

"Sorry about that. I'm afraid the deception was necessary. My name is Daniel Riggs. I've called you here on a matter of national security."

"'Called', huh? That's a nice way of putting it. I want my frickin' phone call."

"Phone calls are for prisoners. Hate to say it, David, but you're a corpse." Riggs tossed David a folded newspaper. David looked at Riggs and opened it up. He blinked as he saw his name under the Obituary section. "You can't make any calls. Your funeral is on Saturday. Quite the to-do, I hear a lot of people are showing up, half to mourn your death and the other half to confirm it. Probably so they can sleep easier, I guess."

"This had better be a joke, pal…or I won't be the only one here needing medical attention," snarled David, ripping the paper in two.

"Darn. I wanted to read the funnies." Riggs smiled. "This is no joke, David. This is real. I need your expertise." David started to get out of bed, then stopped as he saw Riggs pull a pistol from under his jacket, lightning-fast. "Now, David, we just finished getting you all better. I can't afford to have to send you back full of holes. Just hear me out and you can make a miraculous recovery, somebody will discover you alive and well with a little memory loss and you'll be back with your girl before you know it."

"Who the hell are you? CIA? NSA? FBI? UGA?"

"Actually, David…it might help to think of it this way. If the U. S. Government was a family, the company I work for would be the second cousin on the father's side that no one ever talks about. This is a great country, but the freedoms that we have come at a price. That price is that sometimes it is necessary to subvert the law in order to preserve it. You ever heard the saying, 'Sometimes the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants'?"

"Yeah. So?"

Riggs smiled. "I'm one of the gardeners."

"Which brings me to my next question. WHY?"

"Glad you asked." He pulled up a chair and sat down. "What do you know about the hammer of Thor?"

"Pretty much everything. Thor, Norse god of thunder and storms. Pretty strong guy, but had a soft spot for mortals and underdogs. Sworn enemy of the frost giants from the realm of Niflheim, fought them and kept them at bay. He fought them mostly out of a trick his half-brother, Loki, played upon him. He faced one of the giants, a big guy named Geirrod. After almost being turned into a chandelier by two giantesses, Thor goes after Geirrod. The giant took a piece of molten iron and threw it at Thor, who caught it using a pair of metal gauntlets, then threw it back at Geirrod. Thor threw it so hard that it went through Geirrod as well as the pillar he was hiding behind. Another account has it as a gift a dwarf was making as part of a bet he made with Loki, as well as a few other items for the Norse gods. With its power, Thor could call and direct lightning, thunder, and make and direct storms." David stopped. "What's your point?"

"We recently received word that a British agent from MI-6 went rogue. He found out about Mjolnir and financed a search for the weapon."

"So he decided to quit and take up artifact collecting. What's the big deal?"

"We acquired some of his files and discovered that he's got plans for the hammer. He's certain that it can give him the ability to take over the world."

"Buster, do you have any idea how _cracked_ that sounds? 'Take over the world'…do you know how pulp fiction you're sounding? And you went to all this trouble to fake my death and screw up my life for this?? You guys should really start re-thinking using the term 'intelligence' to describe what you're doing."

"This is no joke, Mr. Connors. He's gone crazy, thinks it's time to bring back the realm of Jotunheim. To do it, he's planning on using the hammer to create a world of ice and snow, by creating a worldwide blizzard. And I know this agent well. I've worked alongside him and against him a few times. His code name is 'Bloodwing', but his real name is Jurt Haufmann." Riggs took out a black & white photo and handed it to David. "One of the few pictures taken of him."

"And what has this got to do with the price of beer?"

"Your country needs your help to stop him."

"In case you haven't noticed, I live in England."

"But you grew up in America and you had access to one of the greatest resources in the world about this time period. Lara Croft's files."

"Then why not talk to Lara about this?"

"Don't be ridiculous. First off, this is a delicate matter. I need one of the best, one who knows how to handle themselves in tense situations. I don't need Dr. Spock, I need Indiana Jones."

"Not enough."

"I also need someone who will look out for his country in this. I know you, David. You're a patriot."

"STILL not enough." David crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"I need someone who knows the Norse mythos and can follow it. I need someone who's not going to drop the ball if things get dicey."

"Unless you've got something else included in this little ego-boo, I'm staying right here."

"Alright, Mr. Connors. I need someone who'll care if something bad happens to Lara Croft."

David stopped. "I must still be having a reaction from that drug you pumped me with…it sounded an awful lot like you just told me you'll kill Lara Croft if I don't help you."

"I didn't say anything of the sort. But if this guy succeeds, billions are going to die. Including Lara Croft. Now, if it's by Bloodwing's hands or mine…well, at least mine'll be quicker than becoming a Croft-sicle."

"You're nuts, you know that? You are barking-at-the-moon mad. You're just as nuts as this 'Bloodwing' punk."

"Maybe, but there's a difference. I'm doing it to preserve lives around the world and our way of life. He's doing it because he thinks the world is too corrupt, that if the gods are too lazy to bring about Ragnarok, then he'll take over for them."

"You're a murderer. One or eight billion, murder is murder."

"I'm a pragmatist. What's more, I'm a patriot."

"And no one holds you accountable."

"Oh, I am accountable, Mr. Connors."

"To whom? God?"

"No…just the President." Riggs smiled. "I'll come back after you've thought it over for a while. Just remember, Mr. Connors. No tricks. You may be one of the best you are in your chosen field, but I am _the_ best. It pains me to have to resort to such desperate tactics, but it's a desperate mission. If you were officially still alive, Bloodwing would have killed both you and Lara to keep you off his trail. Now Lara will be busy mourning and Bloodwing won't even see you coming. Inconvenient, yes…but you are both still alive."

"Won't he recognize me? If this guy is as resourceful as you say, he's probably memorized my face as well as Lara's."

"That's alright. I gave you a new face."

David's eyes widened and he looked around for a mirror. Riggs waited patiently as David found a mirror and looked into it. A stranger looked back at him from the reflective surface. Everything was different, including his hair color. "Holy crap…you made me a blonde??"

"Maybe you'll have more fun. Don't worry, it's completely reverseable." David looked up at Riggs. "Any further questions?"

"Yeah…you got one of those stupid code names too?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Call me 'Badger' from now on. I'll be back after lunch." The door closed behind Badger as he left the room.

David sighed. "Geez, he could've at least left me something to drink…"

"Would you like some tea, sir?"

Jurt looked up at Mannfred. "Yes, please." He turned back to Lara Croft, still dressed in black. Her face was haunted, her eyes red. "Lady Croft, allow me to say that you have my deepest sympathies for your loss."

"He's not dead…he can't be dead…" She shook her head. "It's impossible…"

"Lady Croft, I believe you. In fact, it distresses me to have to be the one to tell you this." He took out his wallet and handed it to her.

Lara took it and looked at it. Her mind was still in neutral at the news. It was all so unreal. As she looked at the badge, she focused slightly. "MI-6…British Intelligence? What's all this?"

"Lady Croft, I regret to inform you that what happened to David was no accident. Details of the crash were left out to avoid compromising an ongoing investigation headed by my organization." He handed her a black & white photograph of a man wearing a pair of mirrorshade sunglasses. "He is known as the 'Badger', a rogue CIA operative. Recently, he became aware of certain documents compiled during World War II. These documents detailed information about a weapon called 'Mjolnir'."

Lara looked up. "The hammer of Thor?"

"The same. These documents, well…they suggest that this weapon is not a myth after all. In fact, if they're even halfway accurate, this hammer may one of the most powerful artifacts in mankind's history."

"What does that have to do with David??"

"Out of all the people in the world, you have the most comprehensive documentation of that time period and geographic location. I suspect that the Badger knew this, and wanted to take you out of the picture. You were at home while David was abroad, and he likely knew of your relationship with him. I came here to tell you that, and that you may very well be in danger."

Lara looked up, an expression of cold rage on her face. "Let him come. He's going to pay for what he did to David. I swear, by Harry, I will make him pay and pay and pay again…!!"

"Lady Croft, this is not your fight. The Badger is an operative, one of the deadliest people on the planet."

"And you think I'm not right at this moment?" she snarled back.

"Lady, please. You are trained to discover, to learn, to fight. This man has been trained to kill. He is a strategist, a tactician. If you go after him, you'll be at a serious disadvantage."

"I'm NOT going to sit here while David's murderer walks around free!!"

"I'm afraid I must ask you to do just that. I have to admit, I have broken agency protocol. I shouldn't even be here, but you have been of great service to the Crown. I considered it a gross injustice that you were kept in the dark about all this." He stood up. "I must insist that you take whatever precautions are necessary to guard yourself until we have neutralized this threat. I also respectfully request permission to access your library, in the hopes that we might be able to anticipate his next move."

Lara turned to him. "Your request is declined, with all due respect."

"Pardon me?"

"You heard me. You are barred from my library. The only way you'll be able to access the information that lies within my books is through me." Lara removed her veil. "And that means I'm going to be the one to find Mjolnir. You can either assist me, or get out of my bloody way."

"Lady Croft…"

"Not another word. You accept my involvement or get out of my home." Her voice was steel.

"Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?"

"Nothing on earth or in Heaven."

Jurt sighed. "I should not have come. I should've anticipated this."

"Too bad. Now help me."

"I can't help you. I don't have the clearance to authorize this."

"Then get someone who can before I do it for you. And believe me when I say you don't want me getting clearance on my own." She turned to Mannfred. "Pack my things. Cold weather gear."

"Yes, mum."

Jurt looked at Lara quizzically. "Do you know where the hammer is??"

"No, but I know the best place to start looking. And if I'm lucky, the Badger will look there too." Lara smiled, a cold, dangerous smile. "I'll be waiting for him."

Jurt, at that moment, decided that he never wanted her to smile like that when she talked about him.

Lara turned to Jurt on the plane. "Tell me about this Badger."

"Lady Croft…"

"TELL ME."

Jurt sighed. "Do you have any idea how many rules I am breaking to tell you what I am about to tell you?"

"There are no rules, Jurt. Now tell me. I need to know my adversary."

Jurt was suddenly glad he and Lara were the only ones in the passenger compartment of the Learjet. "Badger was once a man named Daniel Riggs. CIA right out of college, top marks in his class, top one percent in his training. The cream of the crop, as they say. He spent several years in covert operations, where he excelled at his chosen fields: sniper, demolitions, counter-intelligence. I met him while we worked together against a man who thought to use a group of hackers to crash both Wall Street's systems and the systems at the Tokyo Exchange."

"Needless to say, you were both successful."

"We're not in a world of anarchy." Jurt smiled at that, then sobered. "But something happened to him after that. The world changed. The liberties he had before were no longer available. In one of the last communications we had, he told me that he was burning with discontent of the ones in authority over him. Called them weak-willed, impotent, unwilling to do what needed to be done. I think he may have suffered distress when the Towers went down, anger towards terrorists of every nation. In his last words to me, he told me that there must be a price to be paid for violating the sanctity of the American way of life. He swore that he would 'stop the fire of terrorism by creating greater fires in the homes of the firestarters'. Extremely articulate of him. In fact, he seemed to grow more and more verbose as he sunk into obsession. He used to talk like a street-level hood. Now he sounds like a Yale professor."

"How nice for him. Do you have any idea what his plans are?"

"I think he believes that Mjolnir's power exists. Whether such a ludicrous thing is true is immaterial; he'll cause the deaths of many if he is not stopped. Now, _quid pro quo._ Where do we need to go to find him?"

"The next logical step for him would be to look in the Archives of the Abbey of St. Morene. There's a church in Helsinki that looks like a small country church, but underneath its foundations lie a storage complex for some of the most important documents in the history of the Roman Catholic church. Besides the priests that manage the Archives and the Cardinals in Rome, there were six people in the world who knew of the existence of the Archives. Now there are five."

Jurt didn't have to ask who the sixth person was. David Connors. "I know you…"

"Save it. I will mourn my loss when I see to it that the Badger's pelt is on my wall. And no, Bloodwing…that was not in the figurative sense," said Lara through set teeth. "Tell the pilot to turn the nose towards Helsinki and to increase the throttle. We have an annoying rat to catch."

"Alright, Badger…I'm in. But if this is a put-up job, I don't care how powerful you are on paper, I'm still going to kick your ass all the way to Nepal and back."

"Good. Where to first?"

"If this guy's as good as you say he is, I can only think of one place in the world where he'd try to go. Let me ask you something. If only six people in the world knew of the existence of something…"

"Then he'd be number seven, sooner or later."

"Great." David rubbed his throat. "I can't believe you even changed my voice."

"Just altered it enough so any voiceprint analyzers looking for your voice on the communications nets won't find you immediately. We can't take any chances. Where is this place you're talking about?"

"It's an ancient library under a church in Helsinki. One of the Vatican's dirty little secrets. Tons of documents were hidden here to keep them from being destroyed by papal decrees, as well as to preserve documents having to do with the occult. The church itself is about the size of a gas station, but the underground Archives is the size of a football field. By now, they've probably put up state-of-the-art security systems there instead of the traps they had when they first built it."

"That'll be my department. What do you need to do in there?"

"There's a book in there that has an unabridged version of the Thorsdrapa, an epic poem that details how Thor got Mjolnir in the first place. The full version goes on to tell more about the hammer, and I think it has some valuable clues to where it might be found." David turned to Badger. "You get me in, and I'll find the book."

"I'll get you in."

"Think Bloodwing will get in the same way?"

"I don't think so. I prefer misdirection over destruction. Bloodwing? He doesn't think the job's done unless the body count reads like the population of your average baseball stadium. If he knows about the book and tries for it, you'll know. Everyone in the freaking _time zone_ will know."

"Would he be careless as to destroy the book in the process?"

"Oh no. He's not careless. He's never careless."

"Then why does he lean towards that kind of destruction?"

Badger looked at David levelly. "Because he likes it."

"Great. Another maniac who enjoys his work."

"Don't call him a maniac." Badger's voice, almost defensive.

"Then what is he?"

Badger sat back. "I don't think there's really a name for what he is. Simply calling him a maniac is like classifying snowflakes. He's unique. He doesn't fit into any old pigeonhole, David. You do that and you'll underestimate him. Underestimate Bloodwing and you'll find yourself filling a pine box."

"He's that brutal."

Badger nodded. "Let me tell you a story about Bloodwing. Seems there was this scientist he was supposed to protect. The scientist had some vital information that her employers didn't want to get made public. Well, it goes that the team he was working with dropped the ball and a team of five men came in to try and kidnap the scientist. You know what they found? Bloodwing, standing next to the scientist, a gun to her sleeping head. 'Move another step closer and you go home empty-handed,' he said. They thought he was bluffing and moved in. BAM! Her brains are all over her bedsheets. The action catches the hostile team by surprise. BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM! Down they go. He kept his word, though. The hostile team was shipped home in body bags. Of course, Bloodwing's employers were ticked, but they had all the data the scientist was working on, so they weren't too mad. A shame, though."

"Yeah, no shit, he killed a person in cold blood."

"True…but she was also a babe." Badger smiled.

"Do you have any idea how twisted that sounded?" David stared at Badger.

"It's all part of the Game. Bloodwing plays the Game to win, and he never bluffs."

David sighed as he leaned back in his seat on the plane. "I hope Lara's okay."

"She'll be fine. According to her records, she picked up a train ticket to see her father at home."

"I can't imagine what she must be going through…I was getting ready to propose to her."

"Did she know this?"

"I don't know. I don't think so." He turned to Badger. "You really hosed up my life, you know that?"

"You'll get it back. Better that than to spend your summer honeymoon in a world where snow-skiing is the only pastime and ice-fishing is the only source of food."

"Did you see this coming?"

Badger didn't answer, not at first. "I didn't think it was possible. I should've known better, the veiled references to Norse mythology, talk about Ragnarok…but I soon realized that he wanted to do more than just work on archaeology. He's got a network of operatives, fanatically loyal. I have to tell you, David. This guy scares me."

"Well, he doesn't scare me. I've met his kind before."

"Trust me on this, David Connors. You have never met a man like Bloodwing before. You make any assumptions about him and you're already dead. And don't let pride get in the way. Pride's killed more men than AIDS."

"Okay, okay. I get the picture. Don't fuck around when it comes to him."

"Damn straight."

"Okay. How soon can we get to Helsinki in this thing?"

"Ten hours."

"Can you do what it takes to get me in there if I tell you where it is?"

Badger nodded. "I'll have the equipment for you by the time we land."  
"I take it you do this sort of thing all the time?"

Badger smiled broadly. "David, they don't come any better at 'this sort of thing'."

"Good. The sooner I get this done, the sooner I can go back to my old life and my old face."

"Oh, I don't know. Lara might like this face better."

David looked at Badger. "Yours might look better with another nostril two inches north of the ones you already have."

"Just joking."

"I'm laughing."

David looked through the binoculars at the church. Quiet, serene, lonely. The small church was apparently in desperate need of repair, but services were held regularly. David adjusted the lens on the binoculars and looked through it again. This time, the lasers were visible, crisscrossing the field, turning it into one huge checkerboard. Small dots along the ground in a concentric circle pattern hinted at the land mines all around the church, just waiting to be armed by a signal from inside. _Catholic guys are scary._ David shrugged, then moved down towards the field. _One thing you can't deny about Badger: he knows where all the neat toys are. I thought Lara had some bleeding-edge gear, but this stuff makes her gear looks like a Boy Scout's mess kit._ He moved towards the main door, crouching low and keeping close to the treeline. _Clever.__ Forest growth cut back a good hundred yards, made to look natural, instead of being a trap. Trees made to look like great hiding places, until you notice the traps linked to the remote perimeter defense systems. Land mines, proximity charges, silenced automatic weapons on gyromount-equipped mobile turrets made to look like the landscape. Nobody knows how to quietly say "Keep out or die" like a Catholic._ He looked down at his suit, a full bodysuit with a strange surface, felt like cloth, moved like rubber. _Let's hope this thing hides me as well as Badger says it does, or I'm going to have a truly spiritual experience. Called Death._

David took a deep breath and took his first steps under cover of darkness, waiting to be fired upon. He closed his eyes and waited. After ten seconds, he opened his eyes once more. _Holy crap.__ It worked._ David moved towards the doors, pulling the hood over his face to hide his features, then entered the church quickly. As expected, the church was vacant, woodcut pews and stained-glass windows. _Wow. Old-school. If I didn't know about the Archives, I'd never suspect anything…except that this place was a fixer-upper._ He checked over the building, moving to the altar. He examined it thoroughly. Even though his suit was designed to allow his skin to breathe, David was still starting to sweat. _Where is the switch, damn you…even if it's an electronic lock, there has to be a backup release…there had BETTER be one…_

He felt it before he heard it. A click underneath the altar. David moved behind the counter where the choir was supposed to sit, hoping that Badger was right about the suit masking him from cameras. If so, he was a sitting duck and only divine intervention would make sure he'd live to see ten minutes from now. The altar slid aside and three men exited, all wearing monk's robes. None of them bore weapons or sought him out in the choir's seating.

David moved out and went down the steps under the altar, hearing the altar sliding into place above his head. He continued down, the stone walls giving way to metal. _So far, so good._ David tried to tell himself he was calm, but his heart was beating out a heavy metal drum solo in his ribcage. Not for the first time that hour, he wished Lara was there.

As he moved deeper, he ran into the first real obstacle: the hallway leading to the Archives was barred by a series of offices, with their own checkpoints. He pulled back into the corner and opened up his pack, taking out a set of monk's robes. _Place this close-knit, everyone knows everyone else._ He took out a folded-up flesh-colored object, opening it up and pulling it over his head, then checked his features against an ID card, then a hand-held mirror.

The face matched.

_I wonder how Badger made sure this guy wasn't showing up for his transfer. On second thought, maybe I don't. I thought the Jesuits were fanatics, but this guy…_ David shook his head. _This guy is driven. Real "burn the village to save it" type. What bothers me is, what is this guy going to do if he gets the hammer and it turns out to be as powerful as he says it is? Is he going to use it to protect the __American Way__ of Life? And if so, am I going to "disappear"?_

David stroked his false cheeks. _Focus, Dave. Worry about Badger killing you later. These guys will kill you now if you're distracted._ He took a deep breath, then walked around the corner, heading straight for the first checkpoint.

Lara adjusted her parachute rig, then looked up at Bloodwing. "How much longer until we're over the target?"

He checked his watch, an expensive Swiss wristwatch. "Five minutes twelve."

"I can hardly wait."

"You sound eager to challenge these priests. Be warned, they aren't shy priests poring over books. Most, if not all, are likely trained soldiers in the service of their church, much more than patriots. These are crusaders, only they're protecting stolen secrets, secrets kept from all but the Pope and his closest associates. If any of it were to get out, the Vatican would likely be extremely embarrassed."

"Then I'll have to make sure it doesn't get out." Lara's voice was grim as she adjusted her breathing apparatus.

"Dare I ask what you have in mind that you disregarded my offer to help you get in without being noticed?"

"Oh, you can ask…but you better ask in the next few moments. I'm in a hurry. I have a plane to ditch."

"I need you to help me, Lady Croft. You will not be of much help dead."

"I am not allowed to die until I have a little talk with Badger." She snapped her helmet strap in place. "I have sworn an oath to make that happen. Now open the bloody door."

"You'll have to open your chute at an extremely low altitude to avoid detection."

"I know."

"Have you ever made a HALO jump before?"

Lara smiled. "Many times. For fun. It's quite soothing." She walked to the door as it opened. "I'll see you at the rendezvous point."

"Be careful. Badger himself may be there."

"Oh I hope so. I truly do." She turned and leaped from the plane, spreading her arms and legs to catch the air and steer her descent. As soon as she saw the church from afar, she closed her arms by her side and straightened her legs, increasing speed, hurtling towards the church. Her eyes blazed under her goggles as she thought about David, dead on orders from Badger. He remembered the words from a Western she had seen with David months before: "I'm coming, and Hell's coming with me."

She gritted her teeth and said with finality, "I'm coming, Badger…and Hell's coming with me!"

David walked past the third checkpoint, walking as if he knew exactly where he was going. So far, his ID card and façade had succeeded in fooling the guards. Badger, despite his moral vacuum, at least didn't miss anything when it came to forgery. David moved along the hallways, finding a bathroom and walking inside. He checked the stalls casually, then went to the mirror. He was just about to open his mask to let some of the perspiration out when he saw the camera in the reflection of the mirror. _Must be tough to be so untrustworthy.__ Wonder if the Better Business Bureau knows about this._ He decided to suffer the mask a bit longer, leaving the bathroom and walking towards the rear of the base. He walked past the cubicles, noting monks in old-fashioned robes working on computers and PDAs. He also noted that there was a gun cabinet in every cubicle section and that none of these monks looked as fat or as jolly as Friar Tuck.

David found his way to the main library and stopped dead. The shelves were marked in an alphanumeric code, and he had the sinking feeling he was going to have to find it using an index of some sort…and that meant accessing the computer. _That means hacking it. And that means that if they realize I'm hacking in, they could lock the place down. I'll have the info, but I'll be trapped._

He sighed inwardly. _I hate to do this, but I guess I'll have to manage a serious distraction. And I'm afraid I know just what it is._ David walked to one of the nearby terminals, taking out a PDA of his own, attaching it to the mainframe with a USB cable. He watched as the PDA synched to the desktop, then faked a primary membership to the system. _Alright...now...where are you?_

He began to type a search into the system, wondering how much time he had before all hell broke loose.

Lara watched the ground come up at her, checking her altimeter watch. The numbers bled away, but still she waited. Four thousand feet and dropping. She looked straight down, not looking at the watch anymore. She knew how far up she was, a talent she'd developed from her skydiving experiences. She waited until she could practically read the number of shingles on the roof, then she yanked the ripcord. The parachute came out just in time to slow her descent just enough to keep her from becoming a pancake, then she pulled the release. Even bracing herself, Lara still felt the impact as she crashed through the roof, landing on the floor of the church and crumpling to dissipate some of the shock. She would not allow herself to black out, however. Her hate was stronger than the pain. By the time the altar opened up once again to allow the first of the guards forth, Lara had already placed a series of surprises for the guards.

Surprises marked, "Semtex."

_Come on, you bastard…where are you?_ David started feel the first twinges of panic. He'd been there for ten minutes, seven of those hacking into the system. He was certain he'd be surrounded by guards any second, but he had so far eluded detection. So far.

Finally, an entry came up on the screen. _Aisle 120, Section 57, Shelf 3, Article 12-R.__ Thank you very much._ He pulled the cable out, trying not to look like he was in a hurry, then walked towards the shelves. He grimaced mentally as he discovered that he was walking past Aisle 1. _A long walk to take in such a short time.__ Do not hurry. Do NOT hurry. You hurry and you might as well strip off your clothes and scream at the top of your lungs._

David had reached Aisle 78 when he felt the shuddering in the floor. He felt a sinking sensation in his gut as he realized what it was. An explosion.

_NOW you can hurry._

Lara waved aside some of the smoke and looked down into the hole, her nightvision goggles in place. She drew her guns, twin Scorpion MP5s with dual clips taped together, and slapped the chambers to prime them. "Can't do much complaining if they never know what hit them." She smiled, pulling her woolen mask over her face, then let her submachineguns hang on the straps under her arms. She drew out Bloodwing's package, placing it in front of the stairs going down and pulled the pin on it. She deactivated her nightvision goggles and her other gear, taking her time, waiting for the people inside to rush to their battle-stations. Lara smiled and pressed the ARM button on the device, activating the ten-second countdown. As she took up her guns again, she took them off SAFE and waited.

The guards reached the top of the stairs, also wearing nightvision goggles, just in time for the mini-pinch to go off, sending an electromagnetic pulse in a two-hundred yard radius around her. The pulse moved through the open entrance, and radiated through the complex. The doors, opened to allow the guards and monks to move to their assigned places, were now sealed open, the hydraulic systems frozen. The lighting and surveillance systems were rendered useless and blind. The computer systems were taken offline, and it would take the backups a day to return to normal. The storage tapes were erased, removing any chance of storing her image anywhere.

"Sorry, mates…but you of all people should know that you've been dealing with things you shouldn't be, and that there is an inherent risk of getting your hands burned. Well, boys, I'm afraid I'm going to have to bring…" She raised the Scorpions. "…the heat."

Men came forth from the stairs and things became very loud.

David turned on his flashlight. "Great. This can't be a coincidence. Wonder if it's this Bloodwing person?" He reached Aisle 120 and started to scan the sections. "Alright…it would be on a parchment, pretty thick, maybe stretched a bit. Scrollcase…scrollcase…" He stopped as he found the shelf, picking out a thick scrollcase. It was made of bone, with gold caps, extremely ornate. _Worthy of holding a long, great tale._ He nodded and opened the case, sliding out the scroll and reading the first set of runes. _Bingo._

Then he heard the voice behind him.

"What are you doing here? We're at Stage One alert!"

David turned. "I think I know why they're attacking. It's because of this. I came to get it. I didn't want them to get it."

"How do you know what they want?"

_Whoops._ "I heard some of them talking on their communicators before the power went out. I couldn't be sure, but it was better to be safe."

The monk looked at him. "I'm surprised, Brother Francis. You never struck me as a man of action."

"The Lord moves in mysterious ways. I know not why I thought it needed to be done, but I feel it is imperative to remove it."

The monk looked at him carefully, then nodded. "Very well, Brother, carry on. Make sure it is sent to the Enclave with the zip tubes."

"Of course." David nodded and headed around the shelf to move towards the back. That's when he heard the click of the hammer behind him.

"Where are you going, Brother Francis? The zip tubes are in the other direction."

_Holy.__ Crap._ "They are? I suppose I got turned around…"

"Do not insult my intellect. Everyone who works here can find their way to any aisle and section blindfolded. Who are you? Are you with the ones trying to blast this place apart? Tell me what I want to know or you can die right here."

"Look, I'm not with those people. I just came in to check something out for a couple of weeks. I promise. I've got my library card right here…" _Think fast, wabbit._ He reached under his robes.

"Drop the weapon and kick it over here."

David pulled out a pistol, dropping it and kicking it over to the man. He held his breath as the monk picked up the gun and examined it. "Strange sort of automatic, don't recognize it. What kind of gun is this?" Then his eyes rolled up in his head and he dropped like a rock.

David smiled, but didn't take a breath until he made it to Aisle 80. "Haaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh…it's called a gas gun. Problem is, it only seems to work on the person aiming it…" He broke into a run, sticking the scrollcase in his pouch and putting his nightvision goggles back on. He started to worry when he saw a warm haze near the entrance. _Smoke...the place is under attack, alright. But I don't see the usual stormtroopers. This place had thirty men. What happened to the other twenty-nine?_

He walked through the cubicle area. Monks were lying all over the floor, all armed, brass casings all over the floor. _Where did everyone go? What happened to these guys?_

Then he heard another click and felt a cold pressure just behind his right ear. "Hello. I was wondering you could help me. I seem to be a bit lost. Could you kindly direct me to where the Thorsdrapa is located?"

_LARA!!!_ He turned slightly. "Lara Croft?"

"You know me. Splendid. I hope that this means things will be done more efficiently."

"Lara…"

Lara pushed the barrel harder into the side of his head. "That's _Ms._ Croft to you. Now cooperate. Please. Don't make me kill you and look for it myself."

David suddenly realized that Lara's voice had a hard edge to it. That's why all the monks were dead. They made the mistake of pissing her off, and she didn't recognize him. _Holy steaming crap…she's here and she thinks I'm dead. If she's here, then that means only one thing: Bloodwing put her up to it. Which means that if I do anything except give her the last thing in the world I want Bloodwing to have, she's going to kill me!_

David suddenly wasn't as glad to see her as he hoped he would be…

**TO BE CONTINUED….**


	27. Lara Croft and the Hammer of Thor, Pt II

**The Hammer of Thor, Part II: Short Swim, Long Story**

**By C. Mage**

_Just my luck.__ I find Lara after days of being without her, I now have plenty of time to tell her what I feel, and she thinks I'm dead. If I even try to tell her the truth, she'll soon be right._ "Now, please be careful with that," he said clearly, hoping that his voice, even altered, might strike a chord somewhere in her memory.

Luck was not with him. "Oh, do trust me, I am more than capable of controlling this weapon. If I blow your head off, it will not be an accidental shooting. How 'accidental' I feel will depend solely upon your ability to bring me to the Thorsdrapa. The unabridged version, thank you."

_Think fast, wabbit_. "I'm afraid that's impossible, miss."

"You have three seconds to explain that sufficiently." She cocked the hammer back. "And only three."

"It's not on the shelves!"

Lara paused. "Do I look like someone in the mood for humor?"

"I am quite serious. If you will allow me to show you…"

"Be quick about it!"

"Right, right…" David went to the computer and pulled up the location of the scrollcase's intended location, then led her to it. "There. See for yourself."

"My good man, if you so much as twitch, I will blow a hole in your brain big enough to drive a lorry through." Lara turned to the shelf and scanned it, then turned back to David. "Very well, if it's not here, then where is it?"

"Someone came to retrieve it, a rather intense gentleman who knocked out my companion there and took off down a side aisle. I was running to gather aid when you found me."

"Who was it?" Lara pressed the gun under David's chin. "ANSWER."

"I don't know who it was!" David was starting to panic.

"Describe him."

"Tall, six foot or so…short brown hair, brown eyes, carried a pistol, a Desert Eagle, wore a jacket, blue jeans and boots."

Lara's heart skipped a beat. "What KIND of boots?"

"Cowboy boots, snakeskin, I think!" David said, knowing that if his ploy didn't work, Lara would not hesitate.

Lara looked at David, then asked in a softer voice, "Did you notice anything else about him?"

"Yes, I think so…he was wearing a medallion, black and gold, circular, gold dot at the top. Looked a bit on the cheap side," David added, describing a medallion that had come with a fantasy video game he'd bought for Lara. Lara had enjoyed the game so much, she gave the medallion that came with it to David, as the heroine of the tale had given the medallion to the hero.

Lara's eyes glistened, then she shook herself. "Did he say where he was going?"

_Uh oh, think faster! _"He said something about visiting his bank and talking to the gnomes, whatever that meant." David hoped Lara remembered that their accounts were in Zurich, Switzerland. She let him handle the money and the accountants, so it was still a gamble.

Lara smiled, then looked stern again. "You've given me some very good news, and so I'm going to let you live. Tell anyone what happened and that will change, for the worse. I promise."

"I swear I will not tell anyone from the Vatican that you were ever here." And that is a promise.

"Good. Now bugger off."

David nodded and turned, walking rapidly to the end of the aisle, then turning right. He waited for Lara to make her exit.

"Well, David, did you get it?"

David climbed aboard the helicopter. "Take a wild guess."

"Nobody likes a smartass, Dave. I thought you were going to go in, nice and quiet."

"I did...but Lara picked up the spare."

"Lara Croft was there? Why?"

"If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say someone put her up to it. Three guesses, first two don't count."

"Bloodwing. When he realized he couldn't get you, he tapped Croft. Dammit. I didn't think she'd go along with it, unless he fed her some story."

_I know how she feels_, David thought idly.

"She'd know about the Thorsdrapa. Did she get a look at it?"

"I don't know, but I'll bet I know where she'd go next."

"Where?"

"Where we're going. Zurich, Switzerland."

"Why are we going there?"

"Because that's where we need to go. The Thorsdrapa identifies some landmarks in Switzerland required to find the hammer."

"And what make you think that?" Badger asked as the helicopter began to rise over the trees.

"Look, do I ask you how you get your secret spy gear, or how you ruin lives? No." He opened the scrollcase and let the scroll slide out carefully, then slid it back inside. "I'll check it out when we get to Zurich."

"Any reason why you plan to wait until then?"

"Because this scroll is several hundred years old. I open it now and it'll be confetti."

Badger nodded, turning to the pilot. "Get us to the airport and contact the plane to file a flight plan for Zurich." Once the message was given, Badger opened up his laptop and started typing.

_Probably running low on hard drive space and needs to delete the launch codes for __America__'s nuclear stockpile to make room._ David shook his head, then looked down at the scrollcase, the wheels in his mind starting to turn. _I have to contact Lara, let her know I'm alive, tell her what's going on. Problem is, I don't think "Mr. Phelps" is going to let me do that. And he's going to be dogging my every move, so I have to get creative. The usual avenues are out. I can't write an e-mail for obvious reasons, and I can't write a snail mail letter without knowing where she'll be. My only option is to hope she checks out the safe deposit box in our bank there, and to find a way to get the message into the safe deposit box without Big Brother watching._

David checked his watch. _Well, I've got three hours to figure out what to do. Geez, no pressure._

Lara Croft stopped the car on the tarmac, a plane waiting for her. She wordlessly walked to the plane and climbed aboard, then tossed her pack on her seat with obvious frustration.

"You don't seem happy."

She looked up and turned to her right, seeing Bloodwing sitting in one of the chairs. Lara expected Bloodwing to be there, but she didn't expect not sensing his presence until he actually spoke. "My, you're quick. You could be part of the Intelligence community if you truly applied yourself."

"Did you get it?"

"No, I didn't. One of Badger's men was there, before me."

Bloodwing didn't change expression or body language, but Lara knew that the spy wasn't happy at the news. "How do you know it wasn't Badger himself? He has a tendency towards working alone."

"The person who took the Thorsdrapa was clumsy, not quite the finesse of the man you described. But I did catch him radioing to someone as he left, and the name 'Badger' was used."

Bloodwing nodded. "This concerns me. Was he aware of your involvement?"

"Likely. He recognized me."

"Damn. If he knows you're involved, it's likely that he'll be keeping a close eye upon your accounts and investments. You will no longer be able to access your resources, unfortunately. As a result, any activity on my part to access my own resources may alert him to close we are to knowing his plans."

"Luckily, I have a backup plan."

"Do you, now?"

"Most of my banking is done through Zurich. In addition to accounts I have there, I also have safe deposit boxes I can access, where only I know the contents. I thought it might be prudent to have some of my resources 'off the books', so to speak."

"How much can you access?"

"If I recall correctly, in addition to dummy passports and the odd sidearm, close to five million pounds in hard currency."

Bloodwing smiled. "Excellent. It'll keep Badger from red-flagging my own resources. Very convenient, Lady Croft. I'm impressed."

"Actually…it was mostly Dave's idea." She sighed and sat down. "I owe Badger a great deal of pain and agony for what he did to David."

"Rest assured, you'll get your chance. Badger is notorious for completing the last phase of his plans personally, to make sure they do not fail. You will surely encounter him, sooner or later."

"Dear Lord, let it be sooner."

Badger stepped off the plane and zipped up his jacket. "Tid bit nipply out, isn't it?"

"Ha ha." David did likewise, watching the snow flurries come down.

"Are you going to be this surly the entire trip?"

"Why? Are you going to turn the minivan around and go straight home, Dad?"

Badger sighed. "I am beginning to think that Lara must've been a closet masochist to stay with you as long as she did."

"The feeling is mutual. Which reminds me, we need to stop by a bank."

"Why? You forget to make a deposit?"

"A withdrawal."

Badger walked to the car that was waiting on the tarmac and strode to the driver's side. "Money is not a problem, David. I can call upon any amount of funds I need."

"The money's not for you or me."

Badger sat down in the driver's side and closed the door as David got into the passenger's side. "What's on your mind?"

"If this guy is as smart as you say, but wants to operate under the wire, he needs non-declared funds. If he's truly tapped Lara, then he might take advantage of money caches I've set up at some of the banks."

"And what do you plan to do?"

"Empty them. Give us the edge, and make it harder for Bloodwing to get Lara to help him."

Badger considered. "It's an idea. Cut off his supply line. Make it harder for him to maneuver. Alright, David, which bank do we head to?"

"Banks, plural."

"Alright, banks. How much are in these banks?"

"Total amount in the safe deposit boxes? About twelve million pounds."

Badger whistled. "That's a lot of petty cash. Anything else in those safe deposit boxes?"

"I made a point to put some weapons and ammunition, as well as some aliases, passports and IDs. I figured if I or Lara needed to go to the boxes, it's likely that we'd be in situations where we might be stranded without money. I've got boxes like them all over the world."

Badger started the car and drove off the tarmac, heading for the freeway. "You'd better not be planning something shady, David. I can smell a lie like a fart in an elevator."

"Everything I told you is the truth." He wrote out a list of banks and handed it to Badger. "I plan to access the boxes, remove all the money I find there and all of Lara's aliases."

Badger stopped at the light and looked at David carefully. After a few moments, he nodded. "Alright. I believe you. I know where these banks are, so I'll do the driving, if you don't mind. Let's get something straight right now, Davey-boy." Badger looked solidly at David. "I want you to empty those safe deposit boxes. Completely. I don't want you to leave a trace behind that someone could follow, especially Lara Croft. I don't want some sentimental concepts to creep in and make you lose your focus. I am prepared to move on without you if you jeopardize this mission. Get me?"

David sighed. "Alright."

"I want you to repeat it back to me, David, to make sure we're on the same page."

"Yes, Dad. I'm going to clean out the safe deposit boxes of all monies, weapons and records of aliases. No writing messages of any kind and putting the notes in the boxes for Lara to read."

"Excellent. Now go get 'em, tiger. We've got a schedule to keep."

David nodded and took out an empty attaché case, stepping out of the car and heading into the bank. He took a deep breath. _I've only going to get one shot at this...I hope Lara remembers, or I'm up the creek, without a boat, much less a paddle. _

Lara walked into the Geistermann Bank secure room and waited for the clerk to bring her the safe deposit box. She was growing concerned that she was being royally taken for a ride, and Bloodwing was at the wheel. What was worse was knowing that Bloodwing was actively, but subtly, exploiting her emotions. She knew she'd have had reservations about taking this quest if David's death hadn't been involved.

She closed her eyes at the thought. It still pained her, deep in her soul, because she knew that David had been actively trying to propose to her for months, but she'd always steered the subject away from matrimony. She didn't want to marry David, then lose him and feel even more pain.

Except Lara's feelings didn't agree with her. What she felt hurt much more than losing Michael, and she began to regret putting David off as long as she had. _Did I imagine it? If this Badger person is as Machiavellian as Bloodwing says, I wouldn't put it past the rotter to just dress someone up in Dave's clothes, just to try and get a psychological advantage._

"Miss, are you well?"

She looked up and realized that she'd been crying. "I'm...I'm a bit out of sorts. I just lost someone rather close to me."

The clerk smiled and put the box down on the table. "I'll leave you alone, then." He turned and walked out, closing the curtain behind him. Lara sighed and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. _I don't know how I'm going to go on without David. _

As her eyes cleared, she opened up the box. Lara's eyes went wide as she saw that the box was completely emptied! "What the devil...!" she asked, then saw something reflected in the polished metal of the box. She opened the lid completely and looked at the lid.

On the lid was written, in felt-tip pen, "When is a door not a door? 5-3-3."

_What in the world? What is this, some sort of joke_? She looked at the writing in amazement, surprised that someone would put graffiti on the inside of her and David's safe deposit box.

Then it hit her, cut through the haze of pain, revenge and grief. It wasn't a joke. It was a code.

She rubbed the ink and saw some of it smear. Fresh. She thought back to Dave' lessons on deductive theory. She'd thought them trite before, but the lessons had opened her eyes to some mysteries before that had gone unanswered in her research. Lara ticked over the facts in her head. _David presumed dead, verified by a third party. Possibility? Getting lower by the tick. He's been presumed dead before. Right. Let's suppose David did write this. What is he trying to say? And how do I know it IS David and not someone trying to confuse me even more that I already am? The answer has to be in the riddle._ She committed it to memory and finished her business, walking out of the bank and heading back to Bloodwing's car.

"How did it go?"

"We may have a problem. Some of my safe deposit boxes have been picked clean. And only someone who can pass flawless signatures of either me or David Connors could have done it."

"Badger." Bloodwing shook his head. "He knows we're trying to stay under the peripheral and he's attempting to cut off our resources, forcing us to use resources he can trace."

"How would Badger know?"

"Never underestimate him, Lara Croft. The man is a jackal. He's been in counter-intelligence for years. Forgery is only one of his talents."

"But how...?"

"I think 'how' is no longer a concern. The question is, what do we do about it?"

Lara considered. "If he's come here to attack my assets, wouldn't it stand to reason that he's trying to anticipate our moves, so we might actually lead him to Mjolnir?"

"Likely. It's certainly his style."

"Then let's throw him off track a bit. I have an idea. There's one place where we might be able to find some information on the hammer, but it's more of a long shot. We stand a better chance of confusing him and leading him to a trap than finding more information about Mjolnir."

"A trap? I like the sound of this more and more. And do you think it'll throw him off the scent if the trap works?"

"Better than that...it'll stop him in his tracks." Lara smiled.

"How can you be sure?"

"Because it nearly stopped me and I was looking for it. He won't be looking for it. He'll be focused on us instead." Lara looked down to her laptop. "I'll lead him in."

"Sounds like you're making this a personal vendetta, Lara. Don't make it personal. It'll cloud your judgment."

"Bloodwing, let me be frank; I am clearer right now that I have ever been before." She turned back to her laptop. "By the by, Bloodwing...I have a joke for you."

Bloodwing rolled his eyes. "Lara, I'm becoming a little worried about your mood swings."

"When is a door not a door?" she asked idly.

"That's your joke? That gag was old at the end of the last ice age."

"Humor me. I've never heard that joke before."

Bloodwing studied her for a few moments longer, then answered with a labored sigh, "When it's ajar." He looked at the back of her head, not seeing the look on her face, missing the expression of dawning comprehension completely. "Are we done with the jokes?"

Lara didn't answer. Bloodwing stood up and walked to the next compartment, but Lara knew that she was still being watched by the cameras behind her and to her rear right. She turned back to the laptop, her mind whirling. Five, three, three. If it was David, then he could've only been referring to one area where she knew only David and Lara's eyes had been: her vault. The year before, they'd both gone through it and catalogued and organized the contents. They'd even moved the stuffed and mounted T. Rex head. One of the ideas David had suggested was cataloguing the contents of the vaults by section, shelf and the artifact's location on the shelf. Fifth section, third shelf from the top, third space from the left.

It didn't take her long to remember what that object was. It was a hand that once belonged to a sorcerer who had supposedly sold his soul to the Devil for the ability to change his shape to whatever he wanted to be, man or animal. The sorcerer, a fallen priest calling himself Father Michael, came upon an enemy in the shape of a massive wolf. His enemy had been a simple hunter, but Father Michael had become careless. The shapechanger underestimated the hunter's skill with a blade and was forced to retreat, losing a paw in the fight. As was often the case of such gifts, this one came with a ringer: his supernatural ability was dependent upon his body staying intact.

After Father Michael was killed, his body fell into decrepitude, but his severed hand did not decay at all. It was found decades later, in 1582, and several powerful men had owned the hand, spending their lives trying to figure out a way to use it to gain the power to change their own shapes. Lara Croft found it while investigating the catacombs of a monastery in New Mexico, at considerable risk to her own life.

What made this artifact important now was that it sat on her shelf in a large glass jar filled with alcohol.

The riddle had hinted at a detail only David would know, which made Lara realize that he truly was alive, but the underlying nature of the riddle made Lara ponder. _Why, of all artifacts, did he choose that one?_

One fact was undeniable: she was going to find out. "Have the pilot steer us towards Venice, Italy. We've got a rat to catch." _And a mystery to solve._

"She's on to us," David mused as he read over the Thorsdrapa.

"I know, Dave. She was spotted entering some of the banks you cleaned out. Bloodwing knows I'm trying to stay low."

"Then why clean them out, instead of just taking some of it? Are you trying to tell them what we're doing?"

Badger smiled. "Ah, the veil begins to lift."

"But why..."

"I want them to think we need resources, that we're desperate. Then Bloodwing will lower his guard, make a mistake, either intentionally or unintentionally, and then we'll know where he is."

"All this joke and dagger stuff is making my head spin."

"Then let me worry about those details. Right now, I want to know where they're going. They filed a flight plan to Venice, Italy, which immediately makes me think they plan to head in the other direction."

"Wait a minute…Venice?" David's face turned to Badger quickly.

"Yes. Why?"

"Because I don't think they filed a fake flight plan. She doesn't have the Thorsdrapa, which mean that she's looking for another way to find the hammer."

"Is there another way?"

"There may be. There's an artifact, a greataxe wielded by one of Thor's favorite people. To make sure this guy could come back and visit, Thor had the directions to his home-away-from-Asgard etched into the head of the axe. It was recovered in a dig a few centuries ago, and moved to a secret church in Venice. They had it examined, then decided to keep it there, guarded by the traps surrounding the church. Lara tried to get past the traps once, with no success, so she says. And she's good."

"That means she's desperate to get it now, which hints at how valuable the information is." He tapped the communications device. "Venice, Italy. Now."

David looked back to the scroll, but his mind was elsewhere. _Lara, looks like you got the message…I hope. Now let's hope you remember more about that place besides the traps…_

Lara Croft entered the Orpheus Opera House, once a grand structure, but now a few shades short of being condemned. Bloodwing followed close behind. "Nice place. Just the sort of locale where I'd park a wrecking ball."

"It'll never happen." Lara took out her trusted PDA and checked the maps she'd downloaded. "The cistern is this way."

"Why not, dare I ask?" Bloodwing asked as they walked towards the stage from the rear of the audience chamber.

"The Vatican will never let it fall. Believe it or no, this building is extremely sound. It was simply made to look decrepit to ensure that the entrance wouldn't be accidentally discovered. Venice will fall before this building will." Lara stepped up to the stage and looked back towards the entrance. "You sure they're still back there?"

"Their ETA is thirty minutes, allowing for delays from the docks. So where do the traps for this place start?"

"When we enter the cistern, we'll descend through a passage that will bring us up into the catacombs. The traps likely start before we reach the catacombs themselves. Once in, we move to one of the areas I've cleared out, and then wait for them to blunder past us into the meat grinders. Should they survive, they'll clear the way to the inner chamber, enabling me to acquire an artifact I've had my eye on for some time, and it is doubtful they will be in any shape to stop you from arresting him and taking him away."

Bloodwing nodded and took out a small mouthpiece with a mini-rebreather built into it. "Want one?"

"Thank you, but no. I have no trouble holding my breath for the short distance to the catacombs." She smiled winningly. "Feel free to indulge, however."

"I prefer not to be out of breath by the time we reach our destination. You'd be wise to consider using one yourself."

"I am fine, thank you. But let's get a wiggle on." Lara pulled on a concealed switch and part of the wall and floor of the backstage area opened, revealing a brick wall surrounding a pool of water.

Bloodwing gestured to the water. "Ladies first."

Badger stopped the car and looked up at the Orpheus. "They're here. I can smell him."

"Maybe he should change his deodorant."

"Come on, Davey-boy. I am not going to miss my chance to nail this guy!" He started to run forward, but David caught up to him.

David pulled on Badger's shoulder. "Look, I know you want this guy, but if you really want to nail him, you better make sure he's the one under the hammer. The way to the artifact is trapped. If we're not careful, we'll be fish food."

Badger pulled his shoulder away impatiently. "All right, we do it your way. Where to now?"

"There's a hidden cistern in the rear of the backstage area, covered by a stone and brick door. It's hidden well, but it can't be covered from the other side. Priests usually stayed behind to secure the hidden door." He walked to the door and opened it, moving inside and shining his flashlight around the entrance hall. "Past this point, things get a little risky. Step where I step."

"Oh? And why should I?"

"The aisles are trapped. Step on the wrong part, and a blade will hamstring you. Now follow me." David walked down the aisle, stepping carefully first on the left, then the right sides of the aisle. He stopped as he reached the bottom, then calmly vaulted up on stage. He turned to see Badger, jumping and side-stepping to the bottom.

"Well, that didn't seem that hard."

"That was the easy part, Badger." David walked back to the stage, grinning at having some fun at Badger's expense; the floor wasn't trapped at all. But he knew where some of the traps and pitfalls were, and he needed to be sure Badger would dance to his tune to stay alive...as well as set Badger up for his little surprise.

Of course, everything hinged on Lara being where she was supposed to be. If Lara wasn't there to help him, he'd drown or get "consequenced" by Badger for trying to ditch him. _Please, God, let Lara have gotten the message..._

Lara's head broke the surface and she swam to the side of the pool, deep under Venice. The room she was in was a good fifty feet wide, and had one door leading out of it. Bloodwing came up soon after, swimming to the side. "Well, THAT was fun. Nothing like dodging saw blades to get the ol' heart pumping."

"Badger will soon be swimming through that same area." Lara pointed to a set of six bells on the wall next to the door. "Each one of those bells is tied to one of those blades, and rings when activated. Works well for an early warning system, wouldn't you say?"

"So if number three rings and number four doesn't, it means they died or became food for the fish."

"Plus, if they turn back, they have to face the blades again, so if they aren't killed, we'll at last know in what direction they're going."

"Perfect. Pretty clever for a bunch of bookworms." Bloodwing walked over to the door and reached for the ring that served as the doorknob.

"Be careful. You don't want to go in there yet." Lara cautioned.

Bloodwing didn't even turn around. "Just checking my exits. I don't ever go into something I don't know how to leave." Before he opened the door, however, he was interrupted by the first bell ringing. Bloodwing turned quickly towards the pool only to find that he was alone.

Lara Croft was gone.

He muttered a few choice words and ran to the side of the pool. He caught sight of Lara's boots as they disappeared through the hole in the bottom. "I don't know what you're thinking, Lara, but I'm not about to let you go without saying goodbye!" He took out an object that looked like an aluminum cigar container, until he popped off one end, revealing a small propeller. He pressed the tip on the other end and the propeller spun, a red light on the end blinking. "Don't look now, Lara Croft...but this 'cigar' is about to smoke you."

He dropped it into the water and it moved through he water like a minnow, the targeting signal locking upon a transmitter hidden the sole of her right boot. As it zipped downwards, Bloodwing sat down to wait for the telltale signs of a deep-water explosion in a confined space.

He didn't have to wait long.

A few moments later, he felt a deep shudder as the high explosive went off, spraying a plume of water through the opening. He smiled and stood up, brushing some of the sprayed water off his clothes. "Looks like it's time for Plan B. Thanks for the money, Lara." He checked his watch. "But time flies. Sorry, Badger, but you'll just have to catch up with me in Norway."

With that, he opened the door on the other side and began the long flight up the stairs to the laboratory and artifact above.

Badger watched David as he swam behind him. They'd already dodged two traps, circular saw blades that swept through the tunnel. He found that David was quite adept of moving past the traps...until they came to the fork in the underwater tunnel.

David looked at Badger and pointed to the left, then Badger saw the third trap: a gigantic four-clawed grapple that reached from the floor and grabbed David around the torso. David's eyes widened in shock behind the mask and he struggled, trying to pull himself free of the apparatus. He looked to Badger, but Badger simply watched as the trap hauled David down through a hole in the floor. A moment later, a massive cloud of bubbles rose from the opening and a stone block slid back into place.

Badger nodded. _One less problem to wrangle._ He swam on through the tunnel towards the end. He knew Bloodwing was at the end of the tunnel, and that thought gave strength to his arms and legs.

_I've got you now..._

David coughed as he was pulled up into the holding area and dangled above the floor. He fought to clear his eyes, but when he did, he suddenly wished he'd kept them closed.

Lara was pointing a pistol at his nose. "Well, well...don't I know you from somewhere?"

"Actually..."

"SHUT UP!" She cocked the pistol. "Who are you and is David Connors alive? I'm only going to give you once chance to answer me and, by God, it had better be the right one, because I will not hesitate to blast your brainless brains out!"

"Look, give me a chance to explain, okay?"

"You have ten seconds, and you'd better make this brilliant."

"Alright...do you remember the time in Peru, when you and David went into the jungle and ate one of the local fruits...and spent the next three days in a dazed stupor, talking about the nature of the universe?"

Lara's eyes went as wide as dinner plates. "How in the world did you know that? David swore a solemn oath never to tell anyone that story!"

"He didn't tell anyone...or...to be more accurate...I never told anyone."

Lara looked at him, then pressed the gun against his right temple. "Do you take me for a fool? Are you trying to tell me that YOU'RE David?"

"Look, I know it's crazy, but Badger faked my death and ran me over with a team of plastic surgeons from Beverly Hills."

"And did he fix your voice, too?"

"Screwed it up is more like it…"

"I don't believe it! It's not possible!"

"Come on, Lara...after all we've seen together, do you really think that? Hell, a mountain fell on Natla and she still came back."

"You could've tortured David for that info."

"Well...what about trivial info? Stuff only David would know?"

"You've got one chance to answer this, whoever you are. There's only one answer, and if you blow it, you're dead."

"Okay..."

Lara looked David in the eyes and asked, "A long time ago, after we first met, you took me to a place where I beat you soundly at a competition of reflexes and coordination. Do you remember what it was?"

David's face went slack. "Oh...no. Don't. For the love of God, DON'T..."

"And after it was all over, you did something to commemorate my victory. Sing it for me now."

David mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that again?"

David took a deep breath and sighed, then sang in a normal tone, "Lara-is-a-Dance-Dance-Goddess, doo dah, doo dah..."

Lara swung his arms around David's upside down form and squeezed him tightly. "DAVID CONNORS, IT IS YOU! You have no idea what I've been through, I've missed you so much...!" She was crying now, the tears mixing with the beads of water on her skin.

David, however, was on eye-level with Lara's shorts. "I missed you too..." he said, utterly embarrassed. Lara had promised him that she would never make him sing that song again. "Lara, this is David Connors speaking, could we please return seats and significant others back to their upright positions? All the blood is rushing to my head."

"Oh! Oh, terribly sorry..." She spun him around and pulled him over to the side, then turned a crank to lower him to the floor. "Are you alright?"

"Apart from a ringing in my ears...was that an explosion?"

"Yes...bastard thought he could hide a transmitter in my boot and assume I wouldn't notice. As soon as I realized he could use it to track me, I shed my boots as soon as I swam around the corner and dropped it through one of the pipes in the floor. Of course, I assumed he was just using it to keep my whereabouts known, but when I saw something shaped like a small torpedo follow my boots down the pipe, I had to get here rather quick. I was almost not quick enough; the explosion went off as soon as I reached the grotto. Fairly blew me right out of the water."

"Are you alright?"

Lara smiled and brushed her hair back. "I'm a lot better, now that I know you're still alive." She reached up and stroked his features. "Good Lord...if it wasn't for your note...I can't believe I almost shot you, not once, but twice."

David sat down in the dim light of the flare sitting in the torch-holder on the wall. "Well, now what?"

"I say we go home straight-away...well, maybe after a trip to Beverly Hills. Don't worry, Dave, I'll get you the best in the business to put you right."

"What about those two? Between James Bomb and John Steed's-Rear back there, they could cause a lot of damage looking for Mjolnir, even if they don't find it."

"David, those two are dangerous. Worse, they're crazy, obsessed with getting the drop on each other. I'm not normally one to shy away from a risky venture, but these two..." She shuddered, and not from the cold. "There's something utterly monstrous about them."

"And we have to go after them. You know we do."

Lara sighed. "I know...I was just hoping you were in the mood to persuade me otherwise."

"Badger's got my files on the Thorsdrapa. As sketchy as they are, he'll soon know where to go. Bloodwing's going to be hot on his trail."

Lara picked up her pack. "The exit's this way. Tell me everything about what happened."

David nodded. "It's a long story."

"It's a long plane trip to Norway."

Lara looked at David as she watched him sleep. She knew it was him, but at the same time, she felt strange wanting to kiss him. _My Lord...it feels like I'm cheating on David...and it's with David! This is maddening..._ She sighed and opened up her laptop, the only resource she'd brought with her from Bloodwing's plane.

As the laptop rebooted, she heard David shift in his chair and she looked up as he moved in his chair, yawning. His eyes opened and David sat up. "What time is it?"

"Three AM local time. Three hours and twenty-seven minutes until we reach the drop point." She smiled gently. "Sleep well?"

"Not really...my skin itches." He rubbed his chin. "Bad itching, too, now that I think about it." He rubbed his neck, feeling more of the itch there. "Is my skin red?"

"No. It's the same healthy color it was before. Why?"

David frowned and removed his shirt, glad that he and Lara were the only ones on the plane. He reached down to where the itching ended and began to pick at the edges of the area.

"David, what are you doing?"

He traced the edge of his discomfort, then took out a switchblade. "Testing a theory. Get me a mirror."

Lara nodded and took out one of the mirrors she used in her trap kit, handing it to David. He began to scrape at his flesh, as if he was shaving, but instead of whiskers, he peeled away a section of skin, revealing another layer of skin underneath, a layer with whiskers growing out of it. He continued to pull at it, and Lara watched with amazement as he pulled the mask away completely, revealing David's original face underneath! His hair was covered with a plastic layer and he had several days' worth of whisker growth on his face. He looked at himself in the mirror, noticing a wide rubber band around his neck, the slightest of bulges in the front. He pulled it off to reveal the bulge was some sort of spider-like device with contacts over his voice box. He looked up at Lara. "Well?" he asked in his normal voice.

"It's incredible! It was a mask the whole time?"

"Yeah...the wonders of technology." He held it up and looked at it. "If it wasn't for my persistent hair growth on my chin, there's no telling how long I'd be wearing this thing."

"Never thought I'd be so happy for your permanent five o'clock shadow." She picked up the throat-device and held it against her neck, saying in the male voice David had voiced earlier, "What do you think?"

"I think we're in serious trouble."

Lara lowered the voice modulator. "That goes without saying."

"No...I mean, look at this stuff. The mask, the voice changer. This stuff is way ahead of anything I've ever seen before, even in the CIA files. Who has this sort of stuff?"

"Private companies?"

"Bingo. I think these guys are definitely not who or what they appear to be."

"That makes no sense. If they were private operatives, why go to all this trouble to keep themselves hidden? The type of archaeology they're talking about isn't illegal. Even if it was on the shady side, these two could afford to bribe whoever they needed to. I should know, I've had to do it myself...once or twice," she added hastily.

David looked out the window. "I think this is some sort of game to them. All this stuff they put us through? This is probably how they get their rocks off, making people like us jump through hoops." He turned back to Lara, grinning evilly. "Maybe it's time we changed the rules somewhat."

"I'm all for that. What do you have in mind?" Lara grinned back insidiously.

"They want the hammer, huh? Well, let's make them work for it. We're going to have to work fast to beat them to the punch."

"That shouldn't be hard. I know where the hammer is."

David stared at her. "I must have some of that mask stuff in my ears; it sounded an awful lot like you just said...!"

"Correct, David dear."

"Then why...what...the Thorsdrapa...the greataxe...!" David sputtered. "We went through all this and you knew all the time...!"

"If I'd told Bloodwing that I knew its location all this time, he wouldn't have believed me. And I was sort of saving it for later."

"But WHY? If you knew where it was, why didn't you retrieve it?"

"I said I knew where it was...I didn't say it would be easy to get. You'll see what I mean when we get there. I'll contact Spike, see if he can get us there without too much trouble."

"Spike? Isn't there anyone else able to get us there quick? That guy is freaking NUTS." David's voice trembled slightly. "I still have nightmares."

"Oh, come now. The last time he flew us somewhere, I slept like a baby the entire trip."

"Oh, really? I saw those tablets you took before the flight, and they weren't air-sickness tablets. They were sedatives."

Lara looked uncomfortable. "Don't be absurd, David. Besides, he's the only one who can get us there in time."

"Forget it!"

Lara sighed. "I'll share my 'air-sickness medicine' with you."

"...deal."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	28. Lara Croft and the Hammer of Thor,Pt III

**Lara Croft And The Hammer Of Thor: The High Cost Of Living Forever**

**By C. Mage**

David looked out the window and found himself saying something he didn't think he'd be saying while aboard a jet-propelled aircraft: "Is that duct tape?"

"Don't ask me, Dave...I'm not looking. What's more, I'd appreciate it greatly if you didn't tell me where you saw the tape." The plane shook violently and Lara held on to keep from falling out of her seat. "Five minutes until the drop!"

"I can hardly wait! Never have I ever wanted to jump out of a plane so badly!" he yelled over the engines. "By the way, Lara, have I mentioned recently how much I'm starting to hate air travel?" David added through rattling teeth as they neared the drop site. The twin-engine plane had descended to jump altitude, but the turbulence threatened to loosen bridgework.

"You're just in a bother because you forgot your mouthguard!" She smiled, showing that she was wearing the same sort of mouth protection professional boxers used during a fight.

"I didn't think I'd be needing one!"

"You were obviously never a Boy Scout," she grinned. "At least the ride back won't be like this. I'd prefer a helicopter ride over this any day!"

"This was faster...and we are in a bit of a rush."

"You know, this might be a stupid question, wouldn't it have been better to, oh, I dunno, LAND?"

"We could...if we didn't run the risk of damaging our landing gear. The ice in this area is rippled, making any attempt to land hazardous to any landing gear not having the 'monster-truck tires' option."

"Why is it rippled like that?"

Lara smiled. "You'll see. Ready?"

"No, but why ruin a perfect record of going in unprepared?" He saw the red light over the opening side door turn green. "Let's go!"

Lara turned and leaped out the door, yelling, "GERONIMOOOOOOOOOO!"

David followed suit with a cry of "SITTING BULLLLLLL!"

"Sitting Bull?" Lara asked as she shed her parachute.

"What? You took the only other good Indian jumping name." He looked around through his goggles. "Where is it?" he yelled through the wind and the falling snow.

"Follow me!" She took out a GPS display and checked the coordinates. "Two miles that way!" She shrugged her backpack to a more comfortable position. As she did, she felt a small sense of satisfaction. She'd been denied the opportunity to see the Temple of Thor for several years, and now she had a good reason for coming back. She remembered the promise she'd made then, and Lara was looking forward to seeing the inside of the Temple.

She just hoped she was in time.

David trudged up the incline, feeling the effects of the cold and the high altitude. "Are we there yet?"

"David, if you ask me one more time, I'm going to turn this expedition around and we're going home, straightaway."

"Promise?"

Lara reached the top and pointed down. "There it is."

David gazed down the slope to an impossibility. Deep in the middle of a landscape in the icy grip of a relentless glacier, a gigantic longhouse prevailed, some unknown force causing the glacier to alter its flow to move around the structure. It reminded David of water flowing around a rock, only in this case, the ripples were frozen in compacted blue ice. The large ripples gave rise to smaller ripples, as if there was some tremor beneath the ice, causing the uneven terrain. "What the hell...there must be millions of tons of dense ice moving through here, and this place just...pushes it aside?"

"That's about it. Incredible, isn't it?"

"Something this size must've turned up on a satellite photo somewhere."

"Funny thing about that...it only shows itself to whoever's truly looking for it without looking for a profit."

David turned to Lara, his expression unreadable behind the muffler under his goggles. "You've been here before, haven't you?"

Lara nodded. "Come on, let's move. It'll be warmer inside, believe me." She took off, moving as fast as she could in the snowshoes. David shook his head as he followed her, wondering what else she'd left out about this place.

As they moved briskly towards the building, two pairs of eyes watched them...eagerly.

Lara and David rappelled down the side of the glacier, landing on a snow-covered landscape. Pines and evergreens were thick around the Temple, with a single stone path leading through the forest to the door. The building was made of wooden logs, but logs several feet in diameter. The wood was smooth, carved with depictions of bears, eagles and wolves. Even though it was clear the structure had existed for centuries, there was no sign of ruin or decrepitude. The trees smelled rich and alive, and to one side sat a large stable-like structure built in to the right side of the longhouse. David looked at the stable and smiled. "Just enough room for two very large goats."

Lara slid her goggles up on her forehead and pulled down the muffler from her mouth and nose. "For the two goats that pull his chariot. You have been studying."

David uncovered his face. "Come on, we can sightsee later. We've got to secure the hammer before Spy Vs. Spy show up."

Lara nodded and walked to the main doors, two iron bound slabs of wood thirty feet high. He looked up at two iron door knockers, a smile growing on his face. "Boy, would you look at the size of those...!"

"If you value your life, David Connors, do not finish that sentence. God knows I've heard that wretched line enough as it is."

David looked over at Lara's stern face. "Sorry," he chuckled, "couldn't help myself."

"That's starting to become your mantra, David," Lara said, but she wasn't totally disapproving. David's smile had a disarming effect upon her. "Just push the doors open."

David nodded and pushed hard, expecting the door to weigh several tons. Instead, the door swing open as if rocket-propelled, slamming into the side of the wall with a loud BOOOOOOMMMMMMMM! Lara jerked backwards at the sound in shock, then turned to David, who was simply standing there, his arms still outstretched. He slowly turned to her with a sheepish expression.

"Working out much, David?"

"Door must be balanced, or something, I guess...sorry."

"So much for the element of surprise." She drew her pistols, twin USPs. "Let's go."

David nodded, drawing his Desert Eagle .50 and walking in behind her, moving to the right and Lara moving to the left as they entered.

The lanterns and the braziers around the room were already lit, as if they alone were the cause of the glacier's detour around the Temple. The smell of roasting food was faint in the air, as if a feast had been held there recently. The tables, four of them, were long and made of thick oak, and the chairs were likewise well-made and sturdy, but it seemed like every inch of wood bord some sort of carved design or etching. Shields hung on the walls, providing mounts for swords and axes of various sizes and shapes. The ceiling was easily over sixty feet high, chains with braziers hanging from them.

Further past the tables sat a huge throne with two circular tables flanking it. On the left table sat a large hammer, with a simple squarish-shaped head and a short metal handle, wrapped with leather.

David stopped and looked at the weapon on the table. "That's..."

"Mjolnir," came a voice from an unseen source.

David looked around, readying his pistol. "Badger."

"And let's not forget his arch-enemy..." came abnother voice, smug.

Lara snarled, "Bloodwing."

"So, David, Lara, have you come to witness the mighty conflict between the noble Badger and the villainous Bloodwing?" The two walked out from behind the throne, Badger on the left, Bloodwing on the right. Badger smiled. "You came just in time. We're about to conclude this particular game. I won."

Bloodwing nodded. "And I lost..." He reached into his pocket and took out a worn golden coin, flipping it to Badger. "It was pretty close, though, you have to admit...closer than it's been in centuries."

Badger nodded. "True enough...with the possible exception of World War II. Now THAT was a close one..."

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Lara yelled, causing the two agents to look at her. "Are you trying to tell me that you went through all this...for a single gold coin? Are both of you mad?"

"A simple gold coin!" Badger said indignantly. "This, Lara Croft, is the FIRST gold coin ever minted. The first! This alone is priceless. It's a symbol of everything that was ever worth anything!"

Bloodwing looked equally angered. "You mortals have no idea just how precious this coin truly is!"

"Wait a minute..." David felt his head spinning slightly. "All this...was for...a bet?"

"Of course. I thought you would've figured that out by now, Dave," Badger said snidely. "Where'd you get your detective's badge, from a box of Crackerjacks?"

"But these are people's lives you're playing with, betting on!"

"Do you have any idea how many of you mortals there are? Hundreds of thousands died during the Trojan War, yet you people just kept right on breeding. Thousands more died during the American Civil War, and there was plenty more where that came from." Badger said condescendingly. "And don't even get me started on World War II. Do you know what kind of gambit that was? You should've seen it. A failed artist, made the antithesis of everything noble and fair...a victimized continent, screaming out for someone to save them...and then, two great powers, Russia and America, joining forces to stop this evil threat!" Badger sighed. "Have to hand it to you, Bloodwing, it was well-played."

"I try."

David snapped his fingers. "I got it..."

Lara turned to him. "What?"

"I know who these yahoos are. Elengaard and Merda!"

Badger and Bloodwing's congratulatory voices stopped cold and they slowly turned to face David.

David looked right back at them. "I've heard of YOU two. The writings of Meredith Salinger of Milan, 1755. Said to be the sons of none other than Loki and a frost giantess. Looks like you've been trying to take on the family busines, huh boys?"

As one, they smiled, the exact same smile. "Not bad, David. You might actually have the honor of being able to get close to us in intelligence."

Lara quipped, "Don't be sure."

Badger grinned. "You're right, Lara, he could never be that smart."

"No, I don't think he could ever be that stupid." Their smiles disappeared as Lara went on, "The writings didn't exactly paint you as very smart. In fact, according to her research, you two might have been fair of face and godly in aspect...but Loki thought you were idiots."

"Do you really think that two immortals can be able to create the greatest conflicts of history out of dumb luck?"

"I sincerely doubt you two could ever coordinate ordering pizza. How do we know you two did all those things?" Lara looked at them both. "We've seen no sign of supernatural power or strength. In fact, the only things David and I can verify for certain is that you're both insane."

Badger and Bloodwing looked at each other, and for a moment, David thought they were going to cry. Then the two agents went for their guns.

Lara and David had seen their next actions coming from miles away, and so had plenty of time to dive under the tables. The barrage of bullets continued until the telltale clicks of spent clips were heard and David smiled at Lara, nodding. Lara nodded back and rolled out from under the table, firing five bullets from each of her pistols at Badger. David rolled and did likewise, firing four times at Bloodwing's chest and putting two into his skull. The two agents dropped like bags of laundry.

David got to his feet, looking over at Lara with a slightly confused expression on his face. "You know, for a couple of so-called uber-spooks, that was..."

Lara spun her head to face him. "Don't say it!"

"...too easy."

A throaty gurgle came from Bloodwing's throat, then a spitting noise, then a small clattering sound. Lara narrowed his eyes at David accusingly. "You just HAD to say it, didn't you?"

David held up his hands apologetically. "It just slipped out, honest!"

A groan came from Badger and Lara turned to see him getting up, looking down at the fresh bullet holes in his body. He opened up his jacket to reveal the holes bleeding out, then the holes began to close up. "Wow...so that's what it's like to be shot. I don't think I like this sensation, Merdra."

Bloodwing/Merdra stood up. "Count your blessings, brother...that bastard put two of those things into my brain. I think those things made me forget how to speak Spanish. Ah well. I can always re-learn it." He spat up some blood and wiped his mouth.

David asked Lara without looking away from the two men standing before them, "Think it's time for Plan B?"

Before Lara could answer, the two men began to glow and shift shape, as if a curtain of water was moving in front of them. When the glow subsided, two tall men stood there, handsome and fair, wearing chainmail armor and carrying swords and shields.

Lara sighed. "Yes, Dave...it's time for Plan B."

The two sons of Loki gave a loud battle cry and jumped down from the platform where the throne sat, swords held high. David backed up, firing his Desert Eagle, only he didn't get the same reaction he was hoping for; the bullets bounced off the armor. The impacts didn't even slow the demi-god down. David jumped out of the way as the sword came down, cleaving the table in half.

Lara wasn't faring much better. Her bullets were having even less efeect, but she was faster than David, so it was easier for her to stay out of the way of the blade, but she knew that if she couldn't fight back in some way, this fight would have one very unlikeable conclusion.

The only weapon available that seemed likely to cause the demigods any real harm was Mjolnir, and as slow-witted as the demigods might have been, they appeared clever enough to keep themselves between the adventurers and the hammer of Thor.

David scanned the area, looking for anything he could use. "Lara, the walls!"

Lara looked up and saw herself close to one of the weapons mounted under the shields. Normally, they would've been out of reach for any ordinary mortal, but Lara Croft had exceeded "ordinary" some time ago, passed right through "spectacular" and was moving at a pretty good clip towards "amazing". She leaped up towards the wall, pushing off from the wall to the column behind her and spun, backflipping further into the air and spinning, grabbing the blade and shield, pulling them free. Lara grinned. "Care for a fair fight?"

"That would be nice...if I fought fair." Merda grinned and slashed at her, barely missing her as she ducked under the blade.

"Oh, good. Then I won't be the only one." She jumped back and Merda stepped forward, then felt his foot go out from under him. Lara had thrown the shield under his advancing foot, the momentum causing Merda to perform a textbook split any high school cheerleader would've been proud of...except Merda was no cheerleader. Fresh pain filled his brain as his body stretched further than it was supposed to go.

Merda swore at her in an ancient Norwegian tone, but Lara needed no translation to get the gist. She didn't think that would slow him down for long if bullets didn't kill him, so she wasted no time running for the table where Mjolnir lay.

Merda pulled himself to his feet slowly. "Brother!"

Elengaard turned to see Lara running towards the hammer, then felt his body being shoved towards a pillar as David planted one of the chairs against his side like a battering ram. Elengaard pushed back, stopping when felt his back against the pillar. "You may have caught me off-balance, human, but you are no match for a god!"

"DEMI-god, buster."

Elengaard roared as he pushed backwards, easily pushing David back, nearly making him fly across the table. Elengaard smiled, reaching down to pick up his sword, only the find that his sword was missing. He looked up as David rose from behind the table, holding the sword with both hands. "Ever get the feeling you were missing something?"

"Give me that!" Elengaard jumped over the table , then stepped back as Davi swung the blade in a slash at waist level.

"Sure, you can have it. Business end first!"

Lara reached the table where the hammer sat and tried to lift the weapon, but it might as well have been nailed to the table. "David, we have a situation!"

David didn't turn. "Have you got the hammer yet?"

"Yes...and no!" She jumped back as Merda surged forward, murder in his eyes. "I can't lift the hammer!"

"Oh, _perfect!"_ He swung at Elengaard, who was starting to look more smug. "And what are you grinning at?"

"No one but Thor can even lift the hammer, much less use it. You both came here only to die. So go on, battle on...you'll tire, but we won't!"

"God, I _hate _it when this happens!" Lara swore, moving to keep the throne between Merda and herself. "Any ideas?"

"I'm dry...how about you, Elengaard? Don't suppose you'd consider a few fast mea culpas and just letting us walk out of here, huh?"

"What do you think, human?" He stepped forward, but David thrust forward, moving him back again.

"Nahhhh...you types enjoy your little games way too much." David was starting to worry. The blade was bigger than a claymore for him, and his muscles were starting to complain already at wielding the monster weapon. "Let me guess...slow and painful death?"

"Aw, and you didn't even need your other two guesses." Elengaard grinned, his handsome face wearing a cruel smile.

"Figures. Uh, Lara...I kinda got a long shot, here." David backed towards the throne slowly. "Willing to trust me on a little cultural clue or two?"

"Long shot's better than no shot at all, Dave."

"Okay...but before I do this, I gotta know something!"

Lara moved to the right as Merda moved to the left. "This had better be important!"

"Believe me, Lara, it's important!"

"What is it, then?"

"Lara Croft..._will you marry me?_"

Merda and Lara both stopped, then turned and faced David, twin incredulous looks on their faces. "Say again?" Merda asked.

"David, this is hardly the time!" Lara said, then remembered two seconds before Merda did that as well.

"I don't think I'm going to get any other chance! Answer the question!"

"Dave...come on, this isn't fair." Lara moved back slightly to give her more breathing room.

"Dammit, Lara...I love you. I've loved you from the moment I first met you! We've been together for over three years! I'm not going to give up on you. So what is the problem?"

"David..." She shook her head and looked at Merda. "Look, you and I both know that we're going to be keeping this throne between us for a while, so could we just take that as said and take a break while I sort this out?"

Merda nodded, smiling slightly. "Go ahead. This is better than cable."

"Thank you." She turned around and walked over to David, her face conflicted. "David, look...you don't understand. I like how things are right now. We don't have to worry about things..."

"...getting in the way? Is that what you were going to say? Look, I know the real reasons why you're doing this! You're..." He shook his head and looked at Elengaard. "How about a freaking time out?"

"Might as well, brother. They're not going anywhere and they can't lift Mjolnir," Merda interjected.

Elengaard looked at his brother, then at David and Lara. He stepped back and sat down on one of the chairs. "All right. You two have five minutes."

David dropped the tip of the sword to the floor, his muscles screaming at him. "Thank you." He turned to Lara. "Look, Lara...it may be fun, but it's not enough. I want to be your husband and I want you to be my wife."

"But you don't know what that'll mean...it means more responsibility..."

"We've saved the world and a few cities in particular a few times, Lara, who could be more responsible?"

"But...David, we're talking about children. We can't keep adventuring with a child..."

"Lara, come on. Can't we leave at least SOME of history for other people to discover?"

"But...David...there are a millions reasons..."

"Lara, I know about Michael."

Merda and Elengaard both raised their eyebrows. Elengaard blinked. "Okay. Didn't see that one coming."

Lara stared at David. "What do you know about him?"

"He died while he was on assignment with you. I know all about it. I'm sorry about what happened..."

"How did you know? I never told anyone except..." Her eyes went wide. "Mannfred!"

"Look, he didn't come right out and tell me, you know. I heard you having a nightmare about it and you kept saying his name over and over again. If you must know, it took me a year to wear him down to where he could tell me."

Lara squeezed her eyes shut, tears trailing down her cheeks. "It was my fault, I should have never taken him with me! His..."

"Stop it, Lara!"

Lara opened her eyes, staring at David. "What? What did you say?"

"You can't keep blaming yourself for that. You didn't drag him along, he volunteered. The snipers drove you two up to the roof, not you. You didn't make it rain and make the roof slippery."

"It was...!"

"Lara...listen to me." David placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him directly. "_It was not your fault._ It never was. You've been punishing yourself for too long and you have to let it go or you'll never make peace with it. You have to let Michael go. Let him rest."

Lara suddenly rushed forward and hugged David, burying her face into his shoulder, crying out six years' worth of pain and heartbreak. She bawled like a child for a long time, moaning "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" over and over again, holding on to David as if she was dangling over a chasm. By and by, her loud sobs slowly subsided until they were feeble whimpers, still holding David desperately.

David looked up at the two demigods. "Uhm...a few more minutes?"

Merda, sitting on the throne, turned to Elengaard questioningly. Elengaard considered, then said, "Take your time. Cable nothing, brother, this is better than pay-per-view."

"Moments like this should be savored," Merda agreed.

Lara looked up at David, her eyes red and slightly swollen. She smiled feebly. "Still want to marry...a complete and utter wreck...like me?"

"In a New York minute," David said with a smile. "I want us to be a real family."

Lara laughed shakily. "I do have a rather considerable dowry...might as well use it while I'm still of marrying age." She wiped her eyes with a hand. "Uhm...shouldn't you be down on your knee...?"

"Oh! Yeah! Right!" David let her go and went to one knee, fishing out a small velvet box that looked as if it had been in his pockets for a long time.

"How long have you been waiting to give that to me?" Lara asked wonderingly, still a slight shudder in her voice.

David smiled up at her. "All my life." He opened the box, revealing an intricate gold ring with a sizable diamond on it, surrounded by three smaller diamonds. "Lara Croft..."

"YES!" she said, unable to hold it back any more, watching with glistening eyes as David put the ring on her finger. She looked at it as David stood up, then hugged him again, kissing him passionately.

Merda and Elengaard watched. Even after all the centuries they'd spent on Earth, they were still amazed from time to time about how some people managed to become capable of such powerful will and emotion. They waited until David and Lara had finished hugging and were now reduced to just gazing into each others' eyes, then Merda cleared his throat. "Ahem."

David and Lara turned to look at him, sitting next to his brother. "Uhm..."

"Elengaard, what do you think?" Merda said, turning to his brother.

"Well, David certainly gets points for emotional impact as well as his timing. The dramatic power of the moment of impending death to make such a bold bid for her love...it was quite impressive. Thumbs up all the way. What do you think?"

"Well, I was a little put off by the fact that David thought he had to wait until they were at the brink of oblivion to make such an important statement. There's no denying that it was quite dramatic, but I am not entirely impressed by his timing. A reluctant thumbs down." Merda smiled. "Well, I hate to say this, but we're deadlocked. And speaking of 'dead'...weren't we about to...?"

"MIND IF I PLAY TIEBREAKER?" thundered a voice throughout the longhouse, reverberating from the walls and the ceiling.

Merda and Elengaard blanched visibly. "Oh, goat dung..." Merda breathed.

"I THOUGHT THE ENTIRE AFFAIR VERY POIGNANT, ROMANTIC AND VERY DRAMATIC, CONSIDERING THE INTERLOPING OF THE FETID OFFSPRING OF MY HALF-BROTHER. IF I'D KNOWN HIS SONS WERE GOING TO CAUSE THIS KIND OF TROUBLE WHILE I WAS AWAY, I WOULDN'T HAVE STOPPED AT SEWING LOKI'S MOUTH SHUT...I WOULD'VE ALSO SEWN HIS LOINS SHUT AS WELL."

A massive thunderclap filled the hall and a flash of lightning struck the throne. When the flash cleared, a massive man sat upon it, making the two demigods look like 98-lb. striplings in comparison. He was dressed in a fur cloak, with ancient Norse armor, gold and red, with a horned helmet and furred boots. His eyes oriented on Merda and Elengaard, and his hand rested upon Mjolnir. "Well now, Lara...wasn't it just yesterday that you were here?" He said in a normal voice.

"I'm afraid it's a bit of a long story..."

"HOLD IT, YOU TWO," Thor interjected as he caught Merda and Elengaard trying to sneak out. "You two are in an _incredible_ amount of trouble as it is...you try to run out on this and there'll only be one question in the world that'll be relevant to you both: original recipe, or..." A lightning flash and the sound of thunder came from the ceiling. "...extra crispy."

They froze in place.

"First smart move you two have made all millenium." Thor turned back to Lara. "So...from the beginning?"

Lara sighed and sat down. "It all started with a car crash..."

By the time Lara was done, with David adding in details from his perspective, hours had passed. Merda and Elengaard were still in the same spot, too scared to move.

"Thor, is it true what those two said about affecting world events, causing World War II and all that?" Lara asked.

"Those two? Loki's brood? Unlikely. They're capable of managing scams like these, but that big? Please." He turned to David. "You know something, you look familiar. Do I know you?"

"Me?" David gulped. Last time he'd been in the presence of a god, he was running for his life and he wasn't entirely sure he should be doing the same thing right now. "I can't imagine where."

"Wait, I know. You're Dad's kid...one of them, anyways, long removed, but his blood's in you."

"Dad? Dad, as in ODIN?" Lara gasped.

"Yep. Come on, don't you see the resemblance?" Thor took his helmet off and smiled. "It's in the nose and chin."

Lara blinked, then shook her head. "This is just too much. How did you know to come here when you did?"

"Easy. The door opened. As soon as the front door opened, I knew I had to get here. The door would only open for one of the Asgardians. I thought one of those yahoos opened it, but it seems that I have you to thank for that, David. Oh yes, one more thing. You were serious about making an honest woman out of Lara?"

David looked over at Lara. "You bet your hammer I am."

Thor nodded. "Alright, then. Guess I can trust you with this, then." He held out Mjolnir to David.

David gaped. "You're kidding."

Thor frowned. "Do I look like the kind of person who kids around at anything?"

David gulped and grasped the hammer, expecting it the fall to the floor as if he'd been given a VW bug to carry. To his and Lara's shock, he held it just fine. David hefted it. "Wow. Thor's hammer."

"Consider it a wedding gift. Just don't throw it or point it at anything you want to keep." Thor stood up. "As for YOU TWO...I'm dropping you off at Asgard. You two have a lot of explaining to do to Dad. You'll be lucky if he doesn't decide to engage you two in Gungnir-catching practice," Thor quipped.

Merda and Elengaard remembered Gungnir, Odin's war spear.

"But who knows...if you're fortunate, you'll be cleaning up behind Dad's steed for the next eon or so." Thor smiled. "Know how much food an eight-legged horse goes through?"

The two demigods groaned. They did know...and they also knew how much Sleipnir left behind.

"As for me, I'm going on vacation. But who knows...maybe I'll show up at the wedding. On the groom's side, of course." Thor winked. "Ciao for now." He reached out and grabbed Merda and Elengaard by their necks, winked at Lara, then vanished in a flash of lightning.

David and Lara stood there for a time, marveling at what they just went through. As they turned to each other, Lara smiled at David. "So, Dave...tell me. What part was the most incredible? Finding out they were demigods? Meeting Thor? Or was it finding out that you're a descendant of a divine line?"

David smiled. "Are you kidding? It was you saying 'Yes'."

Lara smiled, so happy she couldn't believe it. She'd been fearing his question for almost two years...and all she could think was, _THIS was what I was afraid of for so long? This wonderful revelation was what had been giving me nightmares? I was such a fool, a complete, utter fool...but no longer._ It took her a full ten minutes before it occurred to her to transmit the signal to get their ride to come back, this time with a helicopter. As she set up the beacon, she turned to look at David.

He sat on a chair near the throne, looking up at the intricate artwork, the carvings. It was strange...he figured he never needed a heritage, being an orphan, and figured he could get by on his own. Now, he knew that he came from somewhere, that he had origins, a past, a family, even though it was an unusual family. He was startled a little at the touch on his shoulder, but when he saw that it was Lara, he relaxed. "Hey, Lara..."

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"I'm just...wow."

"My, what sparkling repartee you have. Our evenings at home will just scintillating." Lara smiled.

"No, it's just...when I woke up, I didn't have anything I could really call my own. Now I have a family, a heritage...and a wife."

"Fiancée, actually, but why split hairs?" She smiled and sat in his lap. "You know, David...we _are_ in a temple, and you know...I've never had a passionate encounter in a temple before."

"Lara! Let's not forget that this place belongs to a relative of mine? It'd be like having sex in my parents' bed or something..." David's eyes twinkled as light dawned. "Oooh. You're bad."

"Yes, I am."

"That is VERY naughty."

"Yes, it is." Lara grinned.

"And there's a bearskin rug over by the firepit over there."

"Why, so there is."

"...race ya."


End file.
